Pici with Garlic Sauce, or Pici all’Aglione (aglio means garlic, and gives an idea of just how garlicky this is) from the Montepulciano/Montalcino area south of Siena. Pici are hand-made, somewhat irregular strands of flour-and-water pasta (as opposed to egg pasta) that are about an eighth of an inch thick. If you can’t find them, use either bucatini or other thick-stranded pasta.
Ingredients:
400 g. pici
5 pieces of garlic
4 tomatoes
1 hot pepper
Olive oil
Salt
Preparation:
• Bring pasta water to a boil and begin cooking the pici.
• Heat quite a bit of olive oil in a high-sided skillet, add very finely minced garlic and hot pepper, and when it begins to brown add finely cutted tomatoes.
• Continue cooking, stirring constantly, untill the water has evaporated and the sauce is densy. At this point add salt to taste.
• By now the pici should be al dente; drain them, transfer them to the skillet while the colander is still dripping a little, and move the skillet as you would if you were flipping an omelet to coat the strands with the sauce.
