You'll fall in love with this Italian cavatelli pasta recipe! It's absolutely delicious, easy to make, economical, it uses only 2 ingredients and no fancy equipment required.Recipe yield approx 1 lb/450 grams of fresh pasta.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Resting time30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: pasta
Cuisine: Italian, vegan
Keyword: cavatelli
Servings: 4
Author: Katia
Ingredients
2 scant cups(300 grams)Durum wheat semolina flour
½ cup + 2 Tbsp(150 grams)warm water
Instructions
Place the flour on a cleaned surface or in a large bowl. If you're new to homemade pasta, It's a good idea to start off the dough in a bowl and once it starts to take shape, transfer it to the counter.
Make a well in the middle and gradually add the warm/hot water, using a fork or your fingers to bring the flour in from the outside until it forms a dough.
Use your hands to gather the crumbly bits to shape into a dough. Transfer to a clean work surface and knead until a smooth and elastic. It takes about 5 minutes. The dough must neither be sticky nor too dry. If it is too dry, wet your hand with warm water and knead. Repeat if needed.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic film and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Divide the dough into 4 or 8 pieces. Use one portion at a time and cover the rest.
Roll each portion into a long rope of about 1 cm/½ inch in diameter. Do not add extra flour to your work surface.
Cut into approximate 1 cm/½ inch pieces, and gently squash each piece of dough against with your thumb or with the back of a knife, then roll it off to create a shell shape. If the dough sticks to the surface, dust with a touch of flour, but not too much.
Place in a single layer (not touching one another) on a tray, parchment paper or large baking sheets previously dusted with flour.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water. The cooking time takes about 3 minutes, but it may vary according to the thickness of your pasta. Then drain and serve with your favourite pasta sauce, and enjoy!
Notes
When you measure the flour: 2 cups of spooned and leveled semolina flour should weigh between 160 and 170 grams. You need only 300 grams for this recipe, that's why I suggest you to use 2 scant cups of flour which means not packed to full measure. Any salt? The salt added to the flour doesn't dissolve properly, so it's better if you let the salted cooking water and the pasta sauce do the seasoning.