What she learned in Sicily. Home made. No, REALLY - home made, like from scratch, cavatelli

Ragazzi, one of the mountains that many a cook looks at and says "I'm not ready for that," is making her own pasta.    Indeed, Annalena will confess to more than one flirtation with a pasta making machine, which then sat in the kitchen and rusted, before she did use it.  Or, if she DID use it,  she produced mountainous globs of dough that the Guyman and she dutifully ate, thinking quietly  "next time, use a box."  And so it stood.  Until this wonderful trip to Sicily, where Annalena met the incredible Annaliese, who taught her how to make homemade cavetelli.

Cavatelli, or as we called it growing up, gavadeel,  is one of of those wonders of the pasta world.  You've had them:  look at the picture above. Sometimes, they're called "flour dumplings," which Annalena guesses is correct.  , but oh, so misleading, the same way calling spaetzle flour dumplings is.  Taking instruction from Annaliese was so illuminating, so helpful.  Indeed, having spoken to all of the Sicilian cooks she did, Annalena is now ready to try other things. Panelle may be up next.  But she writes about these here, because you should make these. She's serious.  When you see the list of ingredients, and follow Annalena's filter, you will want to make them.  NOW.

There are many, MANY recipes on the internet for making cavatelli, and they are WAY.  TOO.  COMPLEX.  This is what you need:  flour, water.  That is all.  Just make sure you use the right flour.  In Sicily, they use "semolina" flour, which you can get here, but is too coarse.  Use durum flour.  This is the  yellow wheat of Sicily, and it makes a lovely, chewy pasta. You can get it in Italian grocery stores, or from King Arthur.  It's available. Get it.

Proportions with pasta making are "iffy," but you can handle it.  Today was a cool, dry day, so the ratios that Annalena used, were two cups of  flour, and less than 3/4 cups of water.

Can you see a slight yellow color to the flour ? Probably not. But look for the durum flour and you'll see it right away.  

You need to put this flour on a clean surface, and form it into what Annalena has heard called a "vulcano," or fontana:

What you're doing is forming a base for adding the water.  Make sure the walls are high, and thick, because otherwise, you'll have a mess.  That's 2 cups of flour there.  6 ounces of tepid water were ready.  Annalena added 1/2 a cup to the well, and began mixing:  

Do you see the motion?  Sometimes, this is called "frottage" in baking.  Yes, it has another meaning having to do with the boudoir, but we won't discuss that here.  You want to really work the dough, as if you were kneading bread, so that you can develop gluten.  Along the way, add more water if things seem dry.  Use your instinct:  this is an art, not a science. After about five minutes of kneading, you will get something like this:  

Now, when you read recipes for making fresh pasta, you will read "let the dough rest for 30 minutes."  As Annalena learned today, this is a good idea.  She did not do so, because she was so excited, but read on. 

You now need to break this ball of dough into small pieces (Annalena arbitrarily used six), and roll it into thin ropes: 

After this, you cut the ropes into VERY small pieces.  Ideally, they should be no bigger than 1/8 of an inch or so long.  Good luck with that.  But do get them small.  At least the first time,  maybe measure the rope and figure what your ideal number of pieces should be. 

You can cut them all at once, or you can cut them, rope by rope. Whichever way you do it, cover the ones you're not cutting with a cloth, to keep them from drying out. 

Now, the fun part.  You're going to make the cavatelli.  It's hard to depict, but look at the next picture: 

The fork is resting against a surface, and the piece of dough is at the top of it.  Press your thumb into it, and don't be gentle, but don't be mean. Roll it down the fork, and:  

See?  These will get easier as the dough rests, as Annalena found out.  The first two ropes were difficult, but once she got into the rhythm and the dough was relaxed, she got: 

Do you see the flour on them?  You do that to keep them from sticking to each other.  If you're making them that day, cover them with a cloth, and don't refrigerate them.  Keep them away from moisture.  Liquid is the mortal enemy of fresh pasta.    Annalena needed 30 minutes, from start to finish, to make these.

If you go back and look at the ingredients in case you forgot them (water, flour), you will notice the absence of salt.  Well, what that means, is add extra salt to your water.  Bring a big pot of water to the boil.  Add the pasta, and when it comes to the surface, in about 3-4 minutes:

Get a slotted spoon, and pull them out, right into a pan of hot sauce. Not too much of it: 

Toss them in the sauce, and then, if you like (and Annaliese does NOT like),  add cheese.  And you get what's above. 

Please, ragazzi, try this.  You will NOT regret it. They were SO tasty, so delicious, so wonderful.  Make them.  Please.