Pici with crumbs

Pici with crumbs are a typical dish of Siena which later spread throughout Tuscany. Here's how they are prepared in the traditional way (including pici).

Pici with crumbs are perhaps one of the poorest dishes in Tuscan cuisine . Pici, an eggless pasta similar to large spaghetti, have always been considered peasant food. If today they are offered with rich and tasty condiments, once upon a time they were brought to the table simply flavored with chopped onion, oil and salt or, as in this recipe, with the crumbs of toasted bread . Pici with crumbs are an example of how to transform a necessity into a virtue.

The crumb of stale bread , which is traditionally the one without Tuscan salt , is sautéed in a pan with oil, garlic and chilli pepper until it becomes crunchy. Then sauté the pici directly in the pan, stirring everything in the cooking water to make them creamy. There is nothing easier than this recipe, even if you decide to do like us and prepare homemade pici.

How to prepare the recipe for pici with crumbs

1. First prepare the homemade pici. Arrange the flour in a well, place a spoonful of oil and salt in the centre, then slowly pour in the water, gradually incorporating the flour. Knead vigorously by hand until you obtain a homogeneous dough then leave it to rest for 30 minutes wrapped in cling film.
2. Prepare the pici following one of the three possible routes. We rolled out the dough and cut "tagliatelle" 15 cm long, half a centimeter thick and one centimeter wide. We then tightened them by pressing them with our fingers and rolled them on the surface to obtain the characteristic shape .
3. While the pasta rests for at least half an hour, we prepare the sauce. Remove the crust from the bread and crumble it with your hands.
4. In a pan, heat the oil with the garlic and chilli. For a more intense flavor you can chop them, while if you prefer to remove them after they have flavored the oil and bread, leave them whole.
5. After about 5 minutes, add the breadcrumbs and brown them over a high heat.
6. Cook the pasta in abundant salted water for 6-8 minutes then sauté it in the pan with the toasted breadcrumbs. You can make the dish creamier, sacrificing a little crunchiness, by stirring in a ladle of cooking water.
7. Distribute on plates and serve, finishing with a sprinkling of pecorino if desired.

If you use dried pici, pay attention to the cooking times which are usually very long (around 20 minutes). To preserve the crunchy part of the recipe you can remove some of the toasted crumbs from the pan and use them as a final garnish as seen in this video .

Do you notice any similarities with the Sicilian 'ca muddica pasta ? You are not wrong at all, in fact they are very similar to each other and both represent a legacy of poor cuisine.

Conservation

We advise you to taste this dish at the moment since the peculiarity lies precisely in the crunchy note of the pan-toasted breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can store the uncooked pasta in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, well covered with a cloth.