pici con le briciole
pici with garlic and smoked paprika pangrattato
If you’ve never tried them, Pici are a really chunky, fat spaghetti-like shape from Southern Tuscany and you can find them either dry or as pre-prepared fresh pasta at good delicatessens in the UK. ‘Con le Briciole’ means ‘with crumbs’ and in Tuscany it’s one of the most basic ways of dressing pasta... but here I’ve tweaked the recipe to include a spicy, smokey and garlicky pangrattato (fried breadcrumbs).
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
make the pangrattato
boil and cook the pasta
dress the pasta
pici with garlic and smoked paprika pangrattato
INGREDIENTS
FOR FOUR PEOPLE
4 big handfuls pangrattato
EVO
smoked paprika
1 garlic clove
PASTA
400g dry/fresh pici
(I used dry form Morelli)
MANTECATURA (?)
little to moderate
METHOD
For the pangrattato, old ciabatta-type bread is best; if you only have fresh bread available then give it 20 min in the oven to crisp up a bit, then pulse in a blender until you have chunky but uniform crumbs. I like to add half a small fresh cayenne chilli and an anchovy fillet while it’s blending, plus either oil from the anchovies or EVO - for 200g bread, at least 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil. Don’t go too greasy, but make sure you give your pangrattato enough flavour! Cook the pangrattato in a non-stick pan gently and slowly. It’s done when you have a golden brown or slightly nutty flavour - DON’T overdo it! You can refer to the video recipe for pangrattato here.
Set the pangrattato to one side and boil and cook the pici. The dry kind normally need a fairly long boiling time (18-20 min is not uncommon, but check the packaging). My preference is for a soft ‘al dente’ bite to most pasta, so I normally have to cook my pici for slightly longer than the manufacturers advise - just keep checking the pasta and stop when you’re happy with that amount of cooking! Drain the pasta and toss in a couple of tablespoons of EVO - no need to try and make a starchy ‘mantecatura’ with this dish, just drain, oil and then sprinkle the pangrattato, cheese and maybe even more paprika or cayenne pepper on the top.
NUTRITION per serving
KCAL: 502
Fat (g): 15.7
Sat Fat (g): 2.2
Carb (g): 82
Sug (g): 3.6
Fibre(g): 3.5
Prot (g): 13.2
Salt (g): 0.11
Nutritional information is provided as an indication only of approximate values for the recipe on this page. You should make your own calculations if you have specific dietry requirements or are required to follow a strict calorie-controlled diet.
