Ingredients

• 60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole (see tips above for finding the best type)
• 4 parsley stalks
• 1 dried chilli
• 200ml passata
• 400g tin whole peeled tomato
• Sea salt
• Grated Parmesan to serve

Pici

• 400g Tipo 00 flour
• Sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 200ml warm water
• Semolina flour, for dusting

Method:

1. For the sauce, warm the olive oil in a large pot over low heat. I’ve suggested 60ml, but this will depend on the size of your pot. It should cover the base by around 4–5mm in depth. Add the garlic cloves along with the parsley stalks and dried chilli. Cook until the garlic is quite soft, but not coloured (around 10 minutes).
2. Break up the garlic with a wooden spoon then increase the heat to medium and add the passata and tinned tomato. Fill the tin halfway with water and pour this in too. Break the tomatoes with the wooden spoon as they cook. Add a good pinch of salt and simmer gently for around 1 hour, or until nice and rich. Add a little more water as it cooks if it seems to be reducing too much. You want it to still be a nice loose sauce, not too concentrated. Season to taste.
3. To make the pici dough, tip the flour onto a clean work surface and mix with a large pinch of salt. Make a well in the centre, add the olive oil and slowly pour in the warm water. Use your hands to bring the flour into the water, mixing until you have a rough dough. Knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or an upturned bowl and set aside for at least 1 hour to rest.
4. Roll out the dough to a disc around 1cm thick and drizzle with some olive oil to stop it from drying out. Cut the dough into 1cm strips and roll each strip into a thin rope around 5mm wide. Have a small bowl of water nearby if the dough begins to dry out, wet your fingertips to help keep the dough moist. Place the rolled pici on a clean tea towel dusted with semolina flour and continue with the remaining dough.
5. Just before you cook the pici, have the pot of sauce heating over a medium heat.
6. Cook the pici in a large pot of salted boiling water until chewy but not chalky, around 3–4 minutes. Drain the pici, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pici to the pan with the sauce and as much cooking water as needed to help coat the pasta. Simmer the pasta and sauce together for a minute or two until slightly thickened again then serve with parmigiano reggiano, if desired.