Pici with Breadcrumbs and Anchovies
Tomorrow is Father’s Day, and we’re grilling out, so Italian Summer happened tonight. HFD to all the dads out there, I’m lucky to have three good ones, a Sam and two Steves!
So first, Pici. I learned a little Italian today. I never know how to pronounce a “C” in Italian. Cs make different sounds, so when it’s followed by an I, it’s “ch”. So this is pronounced “peachy”. Fun! Pici is egg-less dough, and the shape is pretty much big fat spaghetti. It took longer to roll out than I thought it would, so if you’re hungry, give yourself plenty of time! I said making pasta is kind of soothing, you can just mindlessly think of other things while you’re rolling or shaping or whatever. And you end up with pasta, so there you go! If I can get it to upload right, I actually had Jarrod make a video of me rolling out a Pici! Our first video! (Does that make this a vlog instead of a blog? I dunno.) But enjoy, there’s not really sound except for me getting mad when a piece breaks off. I cuss a lot when I cook, so it’s probably a good thing I don’t make regular videos. (Okay, I cuss a lot period, mind your own business.) EDIT: The video won’t upload so I will post it to Facebook. Whomp whomp.
Okay, anchovies. I KNOW when you read that you said “eww”. Trust me, I said the same thing when I was trying to get them out of the jar. Gross. However, I have made sauce with anchovies before, and let me tell you what: they melt away. Really. They sort of dissolve and just leave you with this very salty, rich flavor. Not fishy at all! You’ll have to trust me on this one because I know you’re sitting there making an eww face (I’m lookin’ at you, Goodwin and Hicks).
I used store-bought breadcrumbs, because who has time to sit and make breadcrumbs AND homemade pasta. I just drizzled a little bit of olive oil in a skillet, let it get hot, and dumped them in and toasted them up a little. It did give them a lot more flavor.
I think this dish was great! If you don’t have time to make your pasta, a good dried fat noodle like buccatini would work really well, or even just regular spaghetti. It’s really all about soaking up that sauce and getting it into your face anyway, the noodle is just the vehicle!
Cheers! ~ Jen
