Pici
Photo: Catia Giaccherini · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Pici trace to Etruscan-era southern Tuscany around Siena, Montalcino and Pienza, where flour and water made a pasta that needed no eggs and survived the lean months. The hand-rolling technique (pici fatti a mano), worked between flat palms on a wooden board, was a wartime skill passed mother-to-daughter. The pasta entered the Florentine canon by the 1960s through trattorias importing from southern Tuscany; today every Florentine restaurant carries pici cacio e pepe or pici al ragu di cinghiale.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 400g type 0 flour, plus more for dusting
  • 200ml lukewarm water
  • 1 tbsp Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • For cacio e pepe: 200g grated pecorino toscano, black pepper, pasta water
  • Tuscan olive oil to finish

Method

  1. Mound flour on a board; make a well. Add water, olive oil, salt.
  2. Mix with a fork, then knead 8 minutes to a smooth elastic dough.
  3. Cover; rest 30 minutes.
  4. Roll the dough flat to 1cm thick. Cut into 1cm strips.
  5. Roll each strip between flat palms on the board, working from centre out, to a 25cm rope.
  6. Dust with flour; lay on a tea towel; do not stack.
  7. Boil in salted water 4 minutes until al dente.
  8. Drain reserving 250ml pasta water; toss with pecorino, black pepper and pasta water to emulsify. Serve immediately.

Tip from the editors. Pici are deliberately uneven; the wonky thickness is the point. Industrial pici are not pici.

Where to eat pici

Pici in Florence

Coquinarius ★ 4.2

€€€ Wine barCentro Storico

Coquinarius in Florence behind the Duomo has run as a wine bar and trattoria hybrid since 1999, with 200 Tuscan and Italian labels, 35 by the glass.

OrderChianti Classico flight (€18), pici cacio e pepe, the salumi tagliere.

PourChianti Classico Gran Selezione flight

WineChianti Classico and Tuscan growers

FoodPici, tagliere, carpacci

TipOpen daily; the back vaulted room is the booking spot. Brunello flight adds €25.

Directions Book a table

Cantinetta Antinori ★ 4.3

€€€ Wine barSanta Maria Novella

Cantinetta Antinori in Florence's Palazzo Antinori is the 26-generation Antinori family's wine bar and restaurant on Via Tornabuoni, with a 150-bottle list.

OrderCrostini misti, tagliere di salumi, a glass of Tignanello.

PourTignanello by the glass

WineMarchesi Antinori estate Tuscan reds

FoodTuscan small plates and tagliere

TipClosed Saturday and Sunday. Book the cellar tasting flight (€45) two weeks ahead.

Directions Book a table

Osteria di Giovanni ★ 4.3

€€€ Florentine, TuscanSanta Maria Novella

Giovanni Latini's Osteria di Giovanni in Florence's Santa Maria Novella sits opposite the family-original Latini room. Kitchen leans florentine, tuscan.

OrderBistecca alla fiorentina, pici cacio e pepe and Giovanni's pappa al pomodoro.

TipBook a fortnight ahead; the front room is the one to ask for. Dinner only.

Directions Book a table

Trattoria Cammillo ★ 4.4

€€ ItalianOltrarno

Trattoria Cammillo is locals send friends here for the crepes alla fiorentina and the masiero family's 1945 white-tablecloth grammar on borgo san jacopo.

Why locals goLocals send friends here for the crepes alla fiorentina and the Masiero family's 1945 white-tablecloth grammar on Borgo San Jacopo.

TipClosed Tuesday and Wednesday; book three weeks ahead. Cash only, dinner only.

Directions

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