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Ricotta Cavatelli
Ingredients
- 3 cups fine semolina flour with extra for sprinkling
- 2 cups ricotta
- 1 egg
- Salt to taste
- Water to add to dough if needed
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add 2 cups of ricotta, 1 egg, and salt to taste. Mix to combine.
- On a clean surface, pour 3 cups of fine semolina flour and make a well in center.
- Pour wet mixture into well. Start combining the flour into the wet mixture. You can use a bench scraper if you have one, otherwise your fingers work fine.
- Once all combined, continue to knead dough till consistency is pliable but not too sticky. If too dry, add water. If too sticky, add more flour.
- Place dough in a bowl and cover with a towel. Allow to rest for up to 1 hour.
- In a baking sheet, add semolina flour.
- Once dough has rested, start pulling small handfuls of dough and roll into a rope. Be sure to cover remaining dough as you work.
- Once rolled into about an inch thick, use your finger as a guide to cut the rope into pieces.
- Shape the cavatelli: Method 1: Use pinky to indent and roll.Method 2: Use a fork and roll pieces.Method 3: Flour a gnocchi board and roll pieces.
- Place shaped cavatelli into floured baking sheet and let rest for 15 minutes or so. Meanwhile boil your water.
- Once water is at a rolling boil, add salt, and toss cavatelli in.
- Once they start to float to the top, the pasta is ready. Serve with your favorite sauce and ENJOY!
Video
My Nonna’s Cavatelli
I grew up in a house filled with my family. My grandmother lived on the first floor, my Uncle and cousins lived in the middle floor, and then my family and I lived on the top floor. As a kid, I very often found myself sitting in the halls of my grandmothers house and spending time downstairs. The dining table was always lined with a cloth sheet of some sort and under it were always some kind of goody. Some days it would be the osso di morti cookies and others it would be homemade cavatelli.
As both my Nonna and I got older, the goody table ceased to exist and now as an adult, I find myself extremely nostalgic for those memories in my Nonna’s house. So, I decided I would try it out myself. I will say that while this recipe was delicious, it was a lot of work and maybe my grandmother had some secret ingredient because I still believe hers tasted better.
Some Notes About the Recipe
While you could easily use a stand mixer and dough hook to make this recipe easier, I personally think this recipe is all about touch. You have to feel the dough to know what it needs, either more water or more flour.
Do not roll your dough into a rope on a floured surface. It will not roll out. I learned this the hard way. But you can shape the cavatelli on a floured surface if you discover your dough might be too sticky – which is what happened to me during this video.
This pasta is fluffy and delicious and goes well with most sauces. I prefer it with simple plain old red sauce because if you spend all this time making it, the pasta is the star – not the sauce. However, this would also go great with broccoli rabe in an aglio oglio type of sauce. Do what makes you happy! Ricotta Cavatelli is a pasta for all sauces.
An Honest Opinion
While I did truly love this recipe and having fresh pasta – it was truly a labor of love. Maybe if I had children or my nieces over and they were able to roll the pasta out like playdoh, it might be more fun. However, Papa Pasquale’s on 15th Ave also sell fresh (frozen) ricotta cavatelli and they are just as delicious. For a quick version – just buy them!
However, if you do make them and want to freeze your own – lay them on the baking sheet and freeze then transfer to a ziplock.
