Sara’s “cavatelli” and an authentic Sicilian recipe for homemade pasta

By Erinswan

Sara’s “cavatelli” and an authentic Sicilian recipe for homemade pasta

Ingredients

• 1 Kilo (2.2 lbs) of durum wheat semolina (….The kind of flour pasta is made of. To find it, try a local Italian specialty store or middle eastern store).
• 3 eggs
• Water
• 1 TBSP salt
• Pasta maker or hand held pasta gadget

Details

Adapted from anamericaninsicily.com

Preparation

Step 1

Sara has a wood board made for making home made pasta…..you add the flour, make a well, and add the three eggs and salt…. Next, you start pulling in the dough a bit at a time and mix with the eggs, adding water as you go, until firm dough is formed. Form dough into a log and, cover with a kitchen towel, and set aside for while you assemble the pasta machine. Next, bring out your pasta maker or pasta gadget and proceed making the shapes you like…. Set the pasta maker on number 5. Make sure you run it through the pasta maker twice or three times, folding the dough in half each time, to make sure the pasta is leveled well. Now, take these slabs of pasta, cut into two inch strips and then roll each strip into a long rope……..Feed the rope into the cavatelli maker……It will curve the pasta, make the lines, and cut them… Now…..what did they do before the cavatelli maker was invented? Ahhhh, Sara used to do it by hand! Either with a fork (imagine!) or with a wooden block. Here’s how…..remember those 2 inch wide strips?…..she used to cut them into pieces, then she took a strip and rubbed it against the wooden block, which made the lines and curled the pasta…..imagine having to do each one by hand!Now, after all the cavatelli are made, she left them to dry for a bit (1\2 hour) on a clean tablecloth before boiling them. (If you want to freeze fresh pasta, be sure to leave the pasta to dry OVERNIGHT)