Recipe: the Pici all’Aglione from Radda in Chianti, Siena

ALSO FOR VEGETERIANS

For this week’s recipe we would like to suggest you a simple first course yet very delicious. We are talking about Pici all’Aglione and especially the ones made in the village of Radda in Chianti, in the province of Siena, Tuscany. The pici, precisely typical of Tuscany, are a kind of homemade pasta similar to spaghetti but thicker and longer, therefore are much consistent; these are great with a meat sauce but also with a simple sauce of cheese or Pecorino cheese similar to the version we are making today.
The recipe is simple because you will need only water, flour and a few eggs, or none at all according to other variants. While making it you must appiciare, as to say knead, the pasta with your hands by spreading it and rolling it until you will have a thick and long spaghetto. This version doesn’t have tomatoes, as it should be for the regular aglione, but it is seasoned with a delicious garlicky Pecorino sauce, typical of this village.

Ingredients

For the pasta:

Wheat flour 800 gr
Eggs 1-2
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

For the sauce:

Garlic 8-10 cloves
Aged pecorino cheese 200 gr
Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp.
Butter
Salt
Black pepper

Method

Let’s start by preparing the pasta while putting the flour on a pastry board, add the beaten eggs with a pinch of salt and start kneading the dough, then add gradually a little bit of lukewarm water until you will have a consistent mixture. Shape it into a ball and let it rest for about half an hour by covering it with a kitchen rag. Once rested, you will be able to spread the pasta with a rolling pin until you will have a not too thin layer and, by putting a little bit of olive oil on the counter, start to roll the layer of pasta making with the palm of your hands a lot of strings similar to spaghetti, which you will cover with flour so that they won’t attach to one another.
Pour the pici in the salted water and, while they are boiling, slice the garlic cloves extremely well and let them brown on low heat in oil and a knob of butter. When the garlic starts to brown stop the process with a bit of cooking water. Now you can drain the pici, saving some of its water, and put them in the other pan. Add the grated pecorino cheese and mix well everything until the cheese will have become a dense sauce. Put some grounded pepper on top of it and the dish is ready to be served.

…enjoy!