Homemade Cavatelli are one of the wonderful homemade pastas so typical of the poorer areas of southern Italy, like Puglia. In the past eggs were scarce, so farmers and home cooks made do with eggless pasta dough. Cavatelli are made with a semolina flour and water rather than with all purpose, or “00" flour that's used for egg pastas. As cavatelli are an eggless pasta they have a slightly denser, chewier texture. They're delicious served with many different sauces and I especially love them with this spicy tomato mussel sauce, a basic tomato sauce, or amatriciana sauce.
Homemade Cavatelli
Follow along on my step-by-step youtube video on how to make homemade cavatelli!
Ingredients:
400 g semolina flour, plus a bit more for your dusting your work surface.
250 mL of water
Procedure:
To mix the dough:
Place the flour in the center of your work service, preferably a wooden board.
Make a well in the flour and add ⅔ of the water.
Use a fork to blend the flour and water together.
Add additional water as needed until you form a cohesive and supple dough.
Knead the dough until it is smooth, uniform and elastic.
Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for half an hour or more to rest.
To roll out the dough:
Break off a small piece of dough to work with.
I usually work with an apricot-sized piece of dough at a time.
Roll the piece of dough into a long thin rope, about ⅜ inch (1 cm) in diameter.
Use a bench scraper to cut the rope into ⅜ inch (1 cm) inch pieces.
To form the homemade cavatelli:
Place one of the pieces of dough onto your gnocchi board and with two fingers (index and middle fingers) gently drag the piece of dough diagonally across the gnocchi board.
What you end up with is a slightly elongated pasta shape with ridges on one side and concave on the other.
Dust the cavateli generously with additional flour and spread out on a pasta rack or a dish towel.
You can either let the homemade cavatelli dry completely to store for future use or you can cook them fresh with the sauce of your choice.
Please note that the below printable recipe can be viewed and printed in either metric or U.S. conventional measurements; just click on your preference within the recipe.
Have a question or want to leave your own tips and recommendations? Click here to leave a comment:
Leave a Comment
Equipment
- gnocchi board
Ingredients
- 400 g semolina flour plus a bit more for your dusting your work surface.
- 250 mL of water
Instructions
To mix the dough:
- Place the flour in the center of your work service, preferably a wooden board.
- Make a well in the flour and add ⅔ of the water.
- Use a fork to blend the flour and water together.
- Add additional water as needed until you form a cohesive and supple dough.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth, uniform and elastic.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for half an hour or more to rest.
To roll out the dough:
- Break off a small piece of dough to work with.
- I usually work with an apricot-sized piece of dough at a time.
- Roll the piece of dough into a long thin rope, about ⅜ inch (1 cm) in diameter.
- Use a dough scraper to cut the rope into ⅜ inch (1 cm) inch pieces.
To form the homemade cavatelli:
- Place one of the pieces of dough onto your gnocchi board and with two fingers (index and middle fingers) gently drag the piece of dough diagonally across the gnocchi board.
- What you end up with is a slightly elongated pasta shape with ridges on one side and concave on the other.
- Dust the cavateli generously with additional flour and spread out on a pasta rack or a dish towel.
- You can either let the homemade cavatelli dry completely to store for future use or you can cook them fresh with the sauce of your choice.
Nutrition
PIN THIS ON PINTEREST:
Please leave your comment here. Your feedback is important!