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Cavatelli is a delicious pasta that can be made with a simple list of ingredients and, even better, you don’t need a pasta machine to make this at home. Traditionally, cavatelli pasta is hand-rolled and shaped and cavatelli made with ricotta cheese makes the dough really tender and mouthwatering. Discover how to make cavatelli with ricotta cheese below, and bring a taste of Italy to your table at dinnertime.
In a bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, salt, and ricotta together with clean hands. Add the water gradually until you reach a dough-like consistency. Keep squeezing it together for around 3 minutes until it doesn’t feel as sticky and you can make a big ball out of it.
Sprinkle some flour onto a clean work surface, and knead for around 2 more minutes to smooth out the dough. Transfer the dough to a separate space and add a dash more flour to the work surface.
Working with 1 oz of dough at a time, roll the dough into a thin strip until it’s around half an inch thick. Then cut the strip into small balls and coat in a little more flour. Use a fork to shape the cavatelli to create ridges in the dough.
Once shaped, transfer the cavatelli to a floured baking sheet and place in the freezer for around 1 hour. Once the cavatelli is all frozen, use a mesh strainer to remove and shake off any excess flour.
Boil a pan of water on the stove with a sprinkle of salt added. Once boiling, add the cavatelli to the water and cook for around 4 minutes, until the cavatelli float to the top. Drain and serve with your favorite pasta sauce or as desired.
The trick to making successful cavatelli is all in the dough. Our first tip when it comes to making the pasta dough is to ensure you don’t add the water too quickly. You may need to add more water than outlined in the recipe above, so it’s best not to rush this step and end up with a dough that’s too sticky. If you do find your dough becomes sticky, you can adjust this by adding more flour. Again, add this gradually until you find a soft, not sticky, dough consistency.
Make sure you use a generous amount of flour when shaping the cavatelli, to stop them sticking to the fork, or a pasta board if you use one. You will get better results with a pasta board, but we’ve shared this recipe using a fork, in case you don’t have a pasta board to hand in your kitchen.
Before using the ricotta, drain it fully. Any excess water leftover from the ricotta will affect the consistency of the dough, so it’s worth taking the time to prepare the ricotta before combining with the rest of the ingredients.
We like serving homemade cavatelli with ricotta with one of our favorite pasta sauces. From pomodoro to carbonara, there are so many delicious, classic sauces to try making at home to accompany your homemade pasta. Once you’ve had your fill of cavatelli, why not try making other pasta varieties, like strozzapreti, at home? And explore a world of Italian cooking with classic, easy pasta recipes to keep dinnertime varied and exciting every week.
After freezing the cavatelli, you can store them in the freezer in an airtight container for up to six months. It’s a great way to batch cook some quick and easy pasta that’s ready-to-go, as they don’t need thawing ahead of cooking.
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