Pici pasta is a traditional Tuscan pasta recipe. It’s a long handmade pasta, famously served in Tuscany with a garlicky tomato sauce (Pici all'Aglione). Perfect for beginners to pasta making!
Make a well in the center of a pile of the flour. Add one whole egg to the center.
To hot water, dissolve a few pinches of salt. Then, slowly add the hot water a little at a time.
Beat the flour into the egg and water with a fork, pulling the flour in from the sides a little at a time.
When the dough begins to look shaggy, compress the dough into a loose ball and begin to knead. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. When you push in on the dough, it should spring back. The pasta dough should not stick to your hands.
Cover and let the pasta dough rest for at least 30 minutes.
Stretch the Pici Pasta
Work with ¼ of the dough at a time. Keep those pieces you aren't working on wrapped in plastic. This will prevent them drying out.
Stretch ¼ of the pasta at a time by hand (using a rolling pin or pasta machine) until the pasta sheet is 2-3 mm thick.
Shape the Pici Pasta
Add a few drops of olive oil to your work service. Cut the sheets of pasta into thin strips (about ¼ inch thick).
With each strip, use your palms to roll the strip of pasta thinner into a rope about the thickness of a spaghetti noodle. The pasta will swell after cooking, resulting in the thick noodle we are looking for. Repeat with all of the strips of pasta.
When finished, dust the fresh pasta with semolina flour to prevent them from sticking together.
Cook the Pici Pasta
Cook the pici in salted, boiling water for about 3 minutes. Pici freezes well, but you’ll need to boil it frozen. Add about 30 seconds to the one minute cook time to account for the fact it is frozen.
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Notes
NOTE: There are less eggs in this pasta than traditional egg pasta because this pasta also includes hot water. Some variations of this pasta use only hot water (no eggs).