Pici

Pici (from appiccicare, to stick to/be sticky) are irregular, hand-made round noodles from Tuscany – especially the Val di Chiana and Senese. They represent the northern limit of semolina pastas, with the exception of trofie, and corzetti from Liguria. Almost brutish in their diameter and lack of uniformity, they go with brutish sauces – ragùs of any kind of game, heavy doses of mushrooms, oodles of garlic (pici con l’aglione), con la nana (with duck, anatra), con rigatino (bacon and breadcrumbs) or even – as they are still served in Trasimeno – with pike caviar…