Giuseppina's pici with garlic tomato sauce from Pasta Grannies: The Secrets of Italy's Best Home Cooks (page 75) by Vicky Bennison

  • semolina flour
    Semolina is the hard part of the grain of durum wheat. When hard wheat is ground, the endosperm--the floury part of the grain--is cracked into its two parts, the surrounding aleurone with its proteins and mineral salts and the central floury mass, also called the endosperm, which contains the gluten protein that gives hard wheat its unique properties for making good pasta. A cream-colored semolina is used in pasta or Italian-style breads. There are difference grades: (1) Semolina flour is finely ground endosperm of durum wheat; (2) Semolina meal is a coarsely ground cereal like farina; and (3) Wheatina is ground whole-grain wheat. When other grains, such as rice or corn, are similarly ground, they are referred to as "semolina" with the grain's name added, i.e., "corn semolina" or "rice semolina." Read more: http://www.food.com/library/semolina-471#ixzz1ms6MXCXf Buy Now
  • tomatoes
  • Show all ingredients...

  • EYB Comments

    Can substitute plain flour for Italian 00 flour. Sauce needs to simmer several hours.

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute plain flour for Italian 00 flour. Sauce needs to simmer several hours.

  • KarinaFrancis on June 11, 2023

    I just made the sauce from this granny (matching it with the “earthworms” from the next page in the book). The sauce would have to be the simplest in the book but it’s absolutely delicious and was comparable to one I recently had in Siena.

  • MilduraSO on December 18, 2021

    This is the first recipe I made from the book. I mistakenly assumed it would be relatively quick but nevermind, it was delicious and absolutely worth it. My only tip is to prepare the pasta dough before starting the sauce so it can rest and you can then roll it out while the sauce cooks. I waited until the sauce was near completion then learned that pici takes forever when you’re hand rolling hundreds of strands. I didn’t have any trouble with the dough or sauce, it was just time consuming. My husband isn’t a big fan of pasta but he loved this and agreed it was worth the effort.

  • twoyolks on July 17, 2020

    Despite being so simple, the sauce is really quite good. The long cooking really helps meld the flavors together. I had trouble getting the pici thin enough so they were a bit too large. I'd consider just rolling and cutting the pasta like spaghetti in the future.

You must Create an Account or Sign In to add a note to this book.

Reviews about this recipe

This recipe does not currently have any reviews.

You are reporting a broken online recipe link to EYB. Please confirm that you want the report submitted. Please also suggest the correct URL for this online recipe to the below textbox.