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.

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 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.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat pici

Pici in Florence

Coquinarius ★ 4.2

centro-storicoMon-Sun 12:30-22:30

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 and a long Florentine carte for full-meal pairings.

Signature pour: Chianti Classico Gran Selezione flight

Wine focus: Chianti Classico and Tuscan growers

Food: Pici, tagliere, carpacci

Order: Chianti Classico flight (€18), pici cacio e pepe, the salumi tagliere.

Tip: Open daily; the back vaulted room is the booking spot. Brunello flight adds €25.

Via delle Oche 11r, 50122 Firenze Book →

Cantinetta Antinori ★ 4.3

santa-maria-novellaMon-Fri 12:30-22:30

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 focused on Marchesi Antinori estate Tuscan reds.

Signature pour: Tignanello by the glass

Wine focus: Marchesi Antinori estate Tuscan reds

Food: Tuscan small plates and tagliere

Order: Crostini misti, tagliere di salumi, a glass of Tignanello.

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

Piazza Antinori 3, 50123 Firenze Book →

Osteria di Giovanni ★ 4.3

Florentine, Tuscan€€€santa-maria-novella

Giovanni Latini's Osteria di Giovanni in Florence's Santa Maria Novella sits opposite the family-original Latini room. The bistecca is dry-aged 40 days and the pici come from the in-house lab.

Signature: Bistecca alla fiorentina, Pici cacio e pepe, Pappa al pomodoro

Order: Bistecca alla fiorentina, pici cacio e pepe and Giovanni's pappa al pomodoro.

Tip: Book a fortnight ahead; the front room is the one to ask for. Dinner only.

Via del Moro 22r, 50123 Firenze Book →

Trattoria Cammillo ★ 4.4

oltrarno

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

Tip: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday; book three weeks ahead. Cash only, dinner only.

Borgo San Jacopo 57r, 50125 Firenze

More cities are in research. Want pici covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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