Pici alla Boscaiola
(Pici with a Sauce of Tomatoes, Sausage and Mushrooms)
This is my attempt to re-create a dish I had in Siena. Pici is a speciality of the region, best described as a very thick version of spaghetti. The thickness gives the pasta more bite than other pastas. As I recall, pici should be rolled by hand. I didn't make my own pici, though, but used some dried pici that I brought back with me from my last trip to Italy.
This is probably the 50th time V and I have declared "the best pasta dish I've ever made." Either we have short memories or I do keep cooking better food. :)
Pici alla Boscaiola
Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
sausages (a rustic Italian sausage would be best, but I used my favorite German sausage-- Nürnberger--and was happy with the result), cut into pieces
mushrooms (porcini would be best but I used the ubiquitous little brown mushroom)
onion
fennel seed
garlic
two cans whole tomatoes with their juice (cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces inside their cans before pouring into the sauce, or crush with your hands)
thyme, basil, rosemary
tomato paste
dry red wine
cream
salt and pepper to taste
pici
Heat a large skillet or wide-bottomed saucepan over medium high. When the pan is hot, add about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the sausage pieces. Let them brown, stirring occasionally so they brown on all sides. Then add the mushrooms and cook until they begin loosing their water. Add the onion and about 1 tsp. fennel seed, crushing the fennel between your palms into the pan. Stir often until the onions begin to go translucent, then add minced garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds to a minute more. You may need to turn the heat down at some point during the sauteing.
Add the tomatoes, thyme, basil, rosemary and about 1 to 2 Tbsp. tomato paste. Turn the heat down so the sauce simmers. Let it cook, stirring every once in a while, until it has thickened. If the tomatoes are very tart, you can sprinkle in a bit of sugar.
Meanwhile, get a large pot of water boiling for your pici. Add plenty of salt after the water comes to a boil. Because of their thickness, they take about 20 minutes to cook.
Right before you start cooking the pasta, add about 1/2 cup of wine to your sauce. About ten minutes before the pici are done, add the cream. Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
When the pici are nearly but not quite done, toss them into the pan with the sauce along with some of their cooking water. Toss until the pasta is al dente.
This recipe makes a lot of sauce. After I added the cream and seasoned, I poured half of the sauce (minus sausages--I wanted all the sausages with my pici) into a container to freeze for later use.
I had the leftovers for lunch today, mmmmm:
