Pici are a frugal Tuscan pasta made with just flour and water, though oil is sometimes added. Wanting a batch, I found a simple recipe that uses a ratio of one cup semolina, one cup All-purpose flour to about 3/4 of a cup water. Lazy and hungry, I used an electric mixer on the dough a good 8-10 minutes at “2 speed.” The dough was resilient and I let it rest about 30 minutes. I followed that by splitting the dough in four portions and rolling them out about a half inch thick.

Then I cut them into strips and proceeded to roll out long strands like “fat spaghetti, not perfect by any means in size. I’d decided to make them with what I had around, namely some home-made Trapenese pesto and my mom’s garden harvest of cimi di rape, or broccoli rabe. A quick boil to al dente and with some pasta water amalgamated with the sauce, I topped the rustic but tasty noodle with rape.