Pici Bolognese
Difficulty
Easy
Preparation time
30 minutes
Cooking time
2 hours
Serves
4 people
Pici are a typical Tuscan first course. Dough traditionally consists of water and flour only, but in this recipe we have added an egg to make it easier to reach the right consistency. Then this pasta must be hand-rolled creating a sort of long and irregular spaghetti.
The classic way of dressing pici is with Bolognese sauce, although in Valdichiana pici are usually served “all’aglione”, i.e. with a tomato sauce flavored with local garlic called “aglione”, which is a variety of large-size garlic that has been recently rediscovered and is characterised by a milder flavor as compared to other garlic varieties.
Ingredients
to make pici
- 400 grs flour
- 1 egg
- 1 glass water
- salt
for the sauce
- 250 grs lean minced beef
- 2 sausages
- 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery stick
- olive oil
- 600 grs ripe tomatoes
- 1 beef marrow bone
- 2 chicken guts
- salt and pepper
- 1 glass red wine
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Preparation for the pici
- Put flour on a pastry board and make a well in the middle, pour half glass lukewarm water and one egg. While whisking, go wider and wider with the fork, bringing in some flour from the outer perimeter.
- Vigorously knead dough for at least 15 minutes, adding the remaining water and a pinch of salt, until dough is smooth and compact. Let rest for 15 minutes.
- Take small pieces of dough and roll with the palm of your hand on the pastry board, until you obtain big irregular spaghetti, which are the size of a pencil but longer than regular spaghetti.
- Drop pici into a saucepan of salted boiling water, delicately stirring with a wooden fork; once they bob up to the surface, drain in a bowl.
- Add Bolognese sauce and serve with grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese to your taste.
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Preparation for the sauce
- Finely chop onion, celery and carrot and lightly brown in oil for ten minutes. Add minced meat, unskinned sausages, chicken guts in small pieces, marrow bone, salt and pepper to your taste.
- Brown ingredients over a high flame for 10 minutes and pour in wine.
- When wine will be completely evaporated, add tomatoes, reduce the flame and let gently boil for about 2 hours.
