A highlight of many of our Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine private tours in Italy are cooking classes, and of course making pasta is always a favorite activity. But my view of what makes a good cooking class for our clients (besides a glass of prosecco) is that they leave with recipes they can make back at home. I love getting emails from groups who have visited with us, who gather together months later to recreate their Italy feast back home.
Pasta is particularly challenging in this regard, many requiring special equipment like a pasta maker; or a high level of skill with a rolling pin to be successful. Stuffed pastas like ravioli are very labor intensive – make the dough, make a filling, roll out the dough, shape the pasta. So I like to find those pasta recipes that are the simplest for a novice like me to do at home – no special equipment, easy to form, rustic in nature. Orecchiette makes the cut.
Orecchiette (pronounced with the ‘cch’ sounding like “kk”) are a small disc shaped pasta from the region of Puglia, the heel of the boot. The name comes from the Italian word orecchia, meaning ‘ear’, and -etta, meaning ‘small’, as their shape resembles an ear, a small round dome with a center thinner than its edge. Like most pasta hailing from the south of Italy, orecchiette are made with durum wheat and water, not eggs. This video shows the famous grandmothers of Bari who make orecchiette each day and sell it to local restaurants. Note: I do not make it anywhere nearly as proficiently as these ladies. I tried to use a knife as they did, and kept cutting my orecchiette in half. This is educational only, so you can appreciate the masters at work!
I recommend a very good book on just this subject, Pasta By Hand: A Collection of Italy’s Regional Hand-Shaped Pasta by Jenn Louis. This recipe for orecchiette comes from here, and the dough mixed up wonderfully in my mixer just as she described. I did think her two step process for forming the orecchiette was a little too complicated, I just pushed and twisted with my thumb and left it at that – I am sure hers are much more uniform in appearance, but my abbreviated method was easy and quick enough that I would make them regularly. , rather than just a one time thing!
Serve these with a variety of different sauces, from a simple tomato sauce, a meat sauce, or, as typically served in Puglia, with a spicy green and sausage – Orecchiette con Salsiccia, Cavoli Rapa e Pignoli. Enjoy with a glass of Primitivo from Puglia (Primitivo is a one of Puglia’s favorite local grapes, you’ll know it here in the US as Zinfandel.)
Orecchiette
9 ounces/1 1/2 cups semolina flour, plus more for dusting
9 ounces/1 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons kosher salt
9 ounces/1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, plus more as needed
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the semolina flour, all-purpose flour, and salt at medium speed. Add the water and stir with a wooden spoon or mix on medium speed until a cohesive but not sticky dough forms, 1 to 2 minutes. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and knead with your hands or on medium speed until the dough is smooth and soft without being sticky or dry, about 8 minutes more. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust with semolina. Cut off a chunk of dough about the width of 2 fingers and cover the rest with plastic wrap. On an unfloured work surface, use your hands to roll the chunk into a log about 3/4 inch in diameter. Cut the log into 1/4-inch pieces. Press down on each piece of dough with your thumb, pushing and twisting slightly to form an indented disk.
(This was all I did to shape my orecchiete. The original recipe added: Now place the disk on the tip of your thumb and gently pull down on the edges with your other fingers, molding the dough to form a cup shape. Too much work for me.)
Place the orecchiette on the prepared baking sheets and shape the remaining dough. Make sure that they don’t touch or they will stick together.
To store, refrigerate on the baking sheets, covered with plastic wrap, for up to two days, or freeze on the baking sheets and transfer to a ziplock bag. Use within 1 month. Do not thaw before cooking.
Bring a large pot filled with water to a boil over medium-high heat. Salt generously. Add the orecchiette and poach until they float to the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more, until al dente. Remove immediately with a slotted spoon. Serve right away.
