Cavatelli became a favorite pasta to make during a difficult time. In the four months after my mom died, I spent most of that time in Northern California at my dad’s house. Everyone converged on the house, more things unraveled, and no one went home for a long time. I made some strange decisions about what to bring when I loaded the car that initial morning – watercolors, a stack of cookbooks, my camera, a favorite knife, a huge bin of spices. I thought about bringing my favorite donabe, but was worried it would break. I grabbed my pasta machine instead. Not a bad call, because a lot of pasta was made!

Cavatelli: The Inspiration

The move to cavatelli was partially out of necessity. My workhorse, the Atlas pasta machine, has issues at my dad’s house. There is nothing to clamp it on to. Every countertop and table is too thick. It’s maddening. I noticed the clamp on the cavatelli maker seemed like it might be wider, so I thought we’d try it instead. It is also worth mentioning, I’ve been meaning to buy a cavatelli maker for years. Ragazza, a sweet little Italian spot, was just up the street from where we lived in San Francisco. The owner Sharon tipped me off to how she made their cavatelli from scratch with a little hand-cranked machine (something like this one) – and I’ve meant to get my hands on once since. This seemed like the right time.

About this Cavatelli Recipe

After a good amount of experimenting, I’ve settled on the following as my basic cavatelli dough and technique. Once you master it, the variations you can explore are endless (see below). The cavatelli machine likes pasta dough that’s not-too-wet and not-too-dry. If you hit the sweet spot, you’ll be able to crank out a pound of cavatelli incredibly quickly. If your dough is getting stuck in your machine, pat it with flour, dust off any excess, and try again. You’ll eventually get a feel for it!

What if I don’t have a Cavatelli Machine?

Not a big deal! You can make it by hand a number of other ways. Here’s a page that demonstrates how to shape cavatelli with a ridged board, fork, or grater. I’ve also seen it shaped traditionally in Puglia using something like a butter knife.

What Flour Should I Use?

Cavatelli is traditionally made with durum wheat semolina flour. But, if you don’t have that on hand, don’t let it stop you. Last week I was out of semolina flour, so the cavatelli you see pictured here was made with “00” flour. “00” is powder-fine and made with low gluten, soft wheat flour. If you don’t have “00” you can certainly use all-purpose flour. A long way of saying, make cavatelli with 100% semolina flour if you have it, or use equal parts “00” and semolina, or just “00″….go for the all-purpose flour if that’s what you have.

How To Freeze Cavatelli

Freezing is my preferred method of storing any cavatelli I’m not cooking immediately. Arrange freshly made, uncooked cavatelli across a floured baking sheet. Try to make sure they’re in a single layer. Freeze for a couple of hours, and then transfer to double layer plastic bags. You can freeze for up to a couple of months. And you can cook straight from the freezer. No need to thaw, just dump the cavatelli into boiling salted water, and increase the cooking time a bit.

Cavatelli Variations

In the recipe below you can see how you can tweak basic cavatelli pasta dough by adding different seasonings and spices. I wanted to make a bright, sunny plate of pasta with lots of roasted yellow and orange vegetables and ingredients like cauliflower, golden yellow beets, and winter squash (pictured above). I added turmeric and black pepper to the pasta dough for a little flavor, color, and boost. The possibilities are endless here.

You can also play around with the water. In place of water you can use vegetable juices, purees, stocks or broths, anything of that sort is fair game.
Making fresh pasta is one of my favorite things to do. It’s even better when you have others around to help, taking turns in shifts. I did a basic primer on making homemade pasta a while ago, if you love fettuccine noodles or anything along those lines, start there. And all my pasta recipes live here. Enjoy!

More Pasta Recipes

• Pappardelle
• Pici
• Mushroom Lasagna
• Beet Fettuccine
• Pasta with Crushed Creamy Walnut Sauce
• Stuffed Shells
• Last Minute Red Lasagna
• more pasta recipes

Favorite Pasta Sauces

• Pesto
• Five Minute Tomato Sauce
• Mushroom Ragù

Other Favorite Italian Recipes

• Gnocchi
• Bruschetta
• Fregola Sarda

Continue reading Homemade Cavatelli on 101 Cookbooks

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Fresh pasta is a lot less time-intensive than you might think, and fantastically worth the effort. You knead the dough by hand, and typically shape the pasta dough into noodles in one of two ways – by hand, or with a pasta machine. Although, with some shapes you do both!  Either way, homemade pasta is an expression of love and always special. Here’s a list of favorite pasta shapes to make at home. 

Pici

Pici is one of the most charming pasta shapes. It is a quirky favorite requiring a short list of simple ingredients hand-rolled into long, slightly irregular strands. Pici love forever. If you’re intimidated by the thought of making fresh pasta, it’s a great shape to start with.

Maltagliati

Slotting maltagliati here, right behind pici, as a casual, non-fussy, impossible to screw up pasta shape to make at home. Maltagliate means something along the lines of “poorly cut” or “badly cut” and is made traditionally from the scraps or leftovers of another shape. There’s not a dedicated page of instruction for this shape, but making it is simple. Take any remnant scraps of pasta – pieces leftover from making fettuccine, or pappardelle, etc. Cut them into irregular diamond or rhombus shapes (see photo above). Allow to dry for an hour or so, and freeze (or use).

Homemade Pasta

I did a basic, comprehensive primer on making homemade pasta a while ago. It’s a great place to start if you’re new to pasta making. This page guides you through an easy pasta dough to work with, and talks you through any substitutions you might want to make. I also suggest pasta-related books I’ve found helpful over the years, and links to favorite pasta tools. Basically, it’s the page I point people to if they say they want to make their own pasta but are intimidated. You can use the recipe and technique on that page to make gorgeous pasta sheets, and proceed to cutting, shaping, or stuffing from there.

Pappardelle

Pappardelle is one of the pasta shapes I prepare most often. The easy-to-make wide ribbons sweep up sauces beautifully. Flecks of flavor, like zests and grated cheese, love to cling to the expansive surface area. A bowl of homemade pappardelle is a real treat. I love it served with this mushroom ragù.

Cavatelli

Cavatelli is traditionally made with durum wheat semolina flour, it’s an incredibly fun (and satisfying) shape to make. You can use a hand-cranked cavatelli machine to get the shape right, or shape the pasta by hand using a fork, grater, or ridged board. Both approaches work great.

Tagliatelle

Long, slender, flat, and a much-loved, tagliatelle is a beloved pasta shape for good reason. It’s typically much less wide than pappardelle, less wide than fettuccine as well. I love the lightness of tagliatelle in comparison. It works with a range of sauces and if you have flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt you can make it immediately.

Fettuccine

I love this beet juice-spiked fettuccine, the beets lend a beautiful pink color, and you can play around with how pale or saturated your noodles are by adding more or less beet juice. You can, of course, substitute other liquids, or use yellow (or orange) beets. If you have success with these noodles, use the recipe as a jumping off point for other flavors. This fettuccine also uses a percentage of whole grain flour for added flavor and nutritional boost.

Gnocchi

Arguably more of a dumpling than a pasta, homemade gnocchi is as good as it gets. This is the gnocchi recipe taught to me by my friend Francesca’s mother. A platter of petite, potato pillows coated with glistening flecks of basil pesto is peak summer goals. I mean, look at those gnocchi – they’re SO delicious. And making gnocchi is a technique worth learning.

Favorite Pasta Sauces

• Pesto
• Five Minute Tomato Sauce
• Mushroom Ragù

Continue reading Pasta Shapes that are Fun to Make at Home on 101 Cookbooks

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