This is not a paid advertisement for Pasta Grannies and I’m getting nothing in return from them for doing this (besides inspiration and delicious ideas :)). I’m just a fan of their stories…and their food! I love the simplicity of their cuisine, the regional distinctions in their shapes and sauces and the blasé manner in which these loving grandmothers crank out thousands of handmade pasta shapes in what seems like the blink of an eye (search Pasta Grannies on YouTube and thank me later). On a rainy day in March with not much time on my hands, this recipe was just what I needed.
Today, I ventured into the Tuscany chapter of the book with a Nonna named Giuseppina. She’s 93 and is still in her kitchen cooking for loved ones. Lucky bastards. At any rate, her favorite recipe is Pici in a garlic-heavy and vampire-repelling tomato sauce. Pici are long strands of pasta whose ingredients are generally just flour and water, though some recipes contain egg and olive oil as well as various types of flour. I stuck with Giuseppina’s here with the addition of a little olive oil. It was so easy to make (no mixer needed) and the shape is about as simple as it gets. The perfect foray into handmade pasta because there’s beauty in the irregularities (see “rustic”).
For the sauce, I took a few liberties. Hers contains smashed cloves of the aforementioned garlic, tomato paste, fresh chili and crushed tomato. I omitted the tomato paste and fresh chili and chose to add some onion to mine as well as chili flakes and some nice fat cantabrian anchovies. The whole mix (in both hers and mine) cooks for about an hour or so, giving you plenty of time to roll out some pasta while the sauce is gently bubbling away on the hob. I opted to finish with some crispy breadcrumbs I had in the pantry and some salty Pecorino Romano cheese, which I love with tomato based sauces..
The video above gives you a general sense of the procedure, so definitely use it as a reference. I’ll post the recipe below. It should be noted that this may make more pasta than you need, but it freezes well after it’s rolled out. Also, sorry for the audio in the video cutting out while I was rolling the pasta. My mic died and I didn’t notice. I’m still learning here! Bear with me through the technical difficulties.
Pici with Crushed Tomato, Anchovy and Pecorino Romano
Serves 4
For The Pasta Dough:
