Homemade Cavatelli

Ingredients

• 2 cups (286 grams) finely ground semolina flour (see notes)
• ¾ cup warm water, more or less as needed
• ½ teaspoon salt

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Resting Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes

Serves: 4

Instructions

• Place the semolina flour on a work surface (or in a bowl), make a well in the middle, and sprinkle with salt.
• Add most of water into the well in the center of the semolina flour.
• Start combining water with the semolina flour using your fingers or a fork, pulling in the flour and forming a dough. Add more water, if needed or more flour if the dough is too sticky. The dough should feel soft and supple, a bit like playdough.
• Knead well for 5–10 minutes until smooth and elastic then form into a ball. If you began the cavatelli dough in a bowl, scrape it out onto a work surface to knead.
• Wrap with plastic and set aside for 30 minutes to rest. This rest will make all the difference!
• After 30 minutes, cut off ¼ of the dough. Rewrap the remaining dough.
• Roll the cut off portion of dough into a sausage shape. You shouldn't need any extra semolina/flour but if you do, use it sparingly.
• Continue rolling until you have a long rope about ½ inch (or approximately 1cm) in diameter. Be sure to roll the rope as thin as this otherwise it will be too thick to cook properly. It may be easier to cut it in half and keep rolling to achieve this thickness.
• Cut the rope into ¾–1 inch (2–2.5cm) lengths.
• Using two fingers (the index and the middle finger), press firmly onto each piece of dough and drag towards you creating a curl and an indentation. It's important to press firmly enough to thin the dough and create a curled pasta. This might take a little practice.
• OR if you using a cavatelli maker, feed the long rope of dough through and turn the handle to get the perfect cavatelli shape.
• Place in a single layer and not touching on parchment (baking) paper that has been dusted with semolina.
• Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bring a large pot of water to the boil. When boiling, add one heaped tablespoon of salt.
• Add the cavatelli to the salted, boiling water and cook for 8–10 minutes. This will depend on the size of the cavatelli. Taste after 5 minutes and cook longer if needed. Cooking may be even longer than 10 minutes if you have made larger cavatelli.
• Serve with your favorite sauce – a mushroom peas and pancetta creamy sauce, San Marzano tomato sauce, Basil Pesto, or Authentic Bolognese Ragu.

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