Pici with asparagus and garlic butter sauce

Fantastic pici pasta recipe from Pasta Social Club. Add a bunch of British asparagus, garlic butter and Parmesan and you are good to go!

Serves two 

300g 00 flor or all purpose flour 

140ml warm water 

1 tbsp olive oil 

For the sauce 

30g butter 

2 garlic cloves, grated 

1 bunch of asparagus, cut 5-10mm thick on an angle 

1 lemon 

30 g Parmesan 

Salt and pepper 

Add the flour to a board or mixing bowl, whichever you prefer. Make a little well in the middle and add water and olive oil. Using a fork carefully start to mix the flour and liquid, when it starts to form a dough you can start using your hands. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes until smooth. Cover with cling film and leave to rest in room temperature for 1-3 hours, the longer you leave it to rest the easier it’ll be to roll out pici.

When rested - divide the dough into four pieces and cover the remaining pieces with cling film not to dry out. Working with one piece at a time, roll it out to a rectangle about 5-7mm thick and cut strips. Carefully roll each strip of dough in to a long 2-3 mm thick noodle. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place each noodle on a tray covered with semolina so they don’t stick.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the pici, it only takes 2-3 minutes to boil. When 30 seconds remaining add the asparagus. 

Once the pasta is cooking heat up a pan with butter and let it melt with the grated garlic. Add a tsp of black pepper and a pinch of salt and and add a ladle of starchy pasta water to the pan. Add pici and asparagus to the garlic butter and cover with grated Parmesan, once the Parmesan starts to melt toss it all up and season with lemon and more salt and pepper. 

Plate up and grate a little more cheese and lemon zest over the top.