Cheese

Pici Pasta with Dandelion Greens

January 27, 2014
5
2 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 2 to 4
Author Notes

Pici is a pasta shape much like bucatini: thick tubes that stand up to robust flavors. In this recipe, the dark freshness of dandelion greens makes this dish rustic and nutritious. —FamilyStyle Food

Test Kitchen Notes

We love how the chewy, long pasta here -- we used bucatini instead of pici, forgive us -- tangled up together with the dandelion greens. The coating of eggs, pecorino, and bread crumbs made for a creamy, super-savory coating that pushed back just enough against the dandelion greens' bitterness. An unusual choice of greens make this a happy contender for your next dinner party, but we'd also readily eat it on any old weeknight. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 12 ounces pici pasta
  • 1 bunch dandelion greens, washed
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or dried crushed chili
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh Pecorino Romano cheese
  • 2 tablespoons coarse fresh bread crumbs
Directions
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons kosher salt.
  2. Slice the stems off the dandelion greens until only about 1/2 inch remains.
  3. Heat the oil and garlic in a sauté pan until the garlic becomes fragrant and starts to sizzle, but not turn brown. Toss in the dandelion greens and move them around in the pan. Cook partially covered until the greens are wilted and softened, about 5 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente -- it will take a bit longer to cook than spaghetti or other thin pasta shapes. Just before draining, scoop out 1/3 cup of the pasta water and whisk into the eggs.
  5. Add the drained pasta to the sauté pan off the heat; drizzle in the eggs and chili and toss everything together. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if needed.
  6. Stir the Pecorino and bread crumbs together in a little bowl; sprinkle over the pasta and serve.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • thedinnerwinner
    thedinnerwinner
  • melfly
    melfly

3 Reviews

thedinnerwinner June 21, 2018
This looks delicious. Where do you get pici pasta?
 
melfly June 21, 2018
the pic above just uses bucatini pasta. that isn't pici. pici is easy and fun to make. takes a little time, but brings you back to rolling out play dough as a kid. https://food52.com/blog/20837-how-to-make-homemade-pici-pasta-using-only-your-hands
 
melfly March 1, 2014
bucatini is good, but nothing compares to pici. if you have the time, i sooooo recommend making it.