Pici Pasta With Prawns
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 45 minutes plus 1 hour resting time
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2
- 200g/7ozs semolina 00 flour (or plain flour if you can't get semolina)
- 70-75ml/2.5-2.6flozs. water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 400g/14ozs. tomato pasta sauce
- 150g/5ozs. prawns, shelled and roughly chopped
- 60g/2ozs. mushrooms, sliced
- Parmesan cheese to serve
Step 1 - Mix the flour with the water until you get a cohesive dough - you may need a bit more water or a bit more flour, each batch of flour is different so you may have to adjust. Kneading should take 4-5 minutes of kneading until you get a cohesive dough that is smooth and regular in pattern-think modelling clay or modelling chocolate. Wrap in cling film and set aside to rest for 1 hour.
Step 2 - Lightly flour two trays but do not flour your rolling surface. In fact wipe it with a damp cloth to get rid of any flour. Pinch off small amounts-mine were 4g and then roll it out using the flats of your palms. At first I rolled it into a small log between my two hands and then placed it on the benchtop and rolled it out to 30cms. Don't worry if it breaks, the irregularity and imperfections are part of the beauty of hand rolled pasta. Place on the floured tray.
Step 3 - Make the sauce so that it is ready for the pici. Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat and fry the garlic briefly. Add sauce to a pan and add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Add the prawns and cook for a couple of minutes.
Step 4 - Heat a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pici a handful at a time. It takes around 3 minutes to cook it and you can't overcook it so you can leave it for a bit longer if you forget.
Step 5 - Remove pici from the water with tongs and place in the sauce adding a little pasta cooking water if needed. Place on serving plates. Serve with extra parmesan.