Wildwood Valley

I have spent another great day in the kitchen with my next door neighbor Tina, making homemade pasta. We choose to make pici which is a classic pasta from this area of Tuscany. Pici is made simply using 00 type flour, salt and water, and combined into a pasta dough and kneaded for about 8 minutes; it’s then left to relax for a minimum of half an hour.

We then roll it by hand into thick long threads which look like a thick spaghetti. The pasta is white rather than yellow as it is not made with egg.

Tina suggested that we make it with the classic sauce of, pici a cacio e pepe. This is a very simple sauce made with sautéed pancetta and seasoned with quite a bit of black pepper and parmesan cheese. We then simply placed the boiled pici in the fry pan and tossed.


Every year when I am back in Tuscany I learn how to make different types of pastas by hand. I have been making homemade pasta for years, but it has been much more pleasurable to roll it by hand with my neighbor rather than using the pasta machine, that I used for years working in professional kitchens.

I can't wait to share all my new Tuscan recipes during the next round of Mad About Food Cooking Classes!