Orecchiette

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large wooden board with slight texture (not smooth)
• •Butter knife or small rounded table knife
• •Bench scraper or sharp knife for cutting
• •Plastic wrap
• •Semolina-dusted baking sheet or tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Pour the semolina onto a wooden board or into a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Dissolve the salt in the warm water and pour it into the well. Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour from the inner walls of the well into the liquid. When the mixture becomes too stiff to stir, begin kneading with your hands. The dough will feel dry and crumbly at first. This is correct. Continue kneading.

   Semolina absorbs water slowly. Do not add more water in the first five minutes of kneading. The dough will come together as you work it.
2. 2

   Knead until smooth

   Knead the dough vigorously for 10 to 15 minutes. Push it away from you with the heel of your hand, fold it back, rotate it a quarter turn, and repeat. The dough should become smooth, firm, and slightly tacky but not sticky. If it remains too dry after 10 minutes and refuses to come together, add water one teaspoon at a time. If it sticks to your hands, dust with semolina. The finished dough should feel like a firm rubber ball.

   This dough requires more effort than egg pasta. Your arms may tire. This is how you know you are working. The gluten must develop fully or the orecchiette will tear when shaped.
3. 3

   Rest the dough

   Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten and makes the dough easier to shape. Do not skip this step. Do not shorten it. The dough knows if you are impatient.

4. 4

   Form the ropes

   Cut the dough into four pieces. Keep the pieces you are not working with covered under an inverted bowl or damp towel. Roll one piece between your palms and the board into a rope about the thickness of your little finger, roughly one centimeter in diameter. The rope should be even in thickness. Uneven ropes make uneven orecchiette.

5. 5

   Cut the pieces

   Using a butter knife or a bench scraper, cut the rope into small pieces approximately one centimeter wide. Each piece should be nearly a cube. Work in batches, cutting from one rope while you shape from another, so the cut pieces do not dry out.

6. 6

   Shape the orecchiette

   This is the motion that defines orecchiette. Place one piece of dough on an unfloured wooden board. The wood should be bare and slightly rough. Press the tip of a butter knife or the rounded end of a table knife into the center of the dough piece. Press down firmly and drag the knife toward you in one smooth motion. The dough will curl around the knife, forming a small shell with a rough exterior surface. Remove the knife.

   The board must not be floured. The slight friction between dough and wood creates the rough texture that holds sauce. A smooth surface produces smooth orecchiette that sauce slides off of.
7. 7

   Turn the ear

   Take the curled shell and place it over your thumb. Push the center outward while curling the edges inward. The rough exterior surface should now be on the inside of the dome. This is the traditional orecchietta shape: a little ear with a rough inner surface that catches sauce. Place the finished orecchietta on a semolina-dusted tray. They should not touch each other.

   Some Pugliese cooks skip this turning step and leave the rough surface on the outside. Both are correct. The turned version is more common in Bari.
8. 8

   Continue shaping

   Repeat with all remaining dough pieces. Your first orecchiette will be clumsy. By your twentieth, you will find a rhythm. By your fiftieth, the motion will feel natural. The shaped pasta can sit at room temperature for up to two hours before cooking, or be frozen on the tray and transferred to a bag once solid.

9. 9

   Cook the orecchiette

   Bring abundant salted water to a vigorous boil. The water should taste of the sea. Add the orecchiette and stir immediately to prevent sticking. Fresh orecchiette cook in 3 to 5 minutes, depending on thickness. They are done when tender but still firm at the center, with pleasant resistance when you bite through. Drain, reserving a cup of pasta water for finishing with sauce.

Chef Tips

• •Seek out semola di grano duro rimacinata, which is finely ground twice-milled durum wheat semolina. Coarse semolina makes the dough gritty and difficult to shape. Bob's Red Mill semolina flour works adequately if Italian brands are unavailable.
• •The wooden board matters. A rough-textured board creates the characteristic surface that holds sauce. A smooth plastic or marble surface will not produce true orecchiette texture. A wooden cutting board that has seen years of use is ideal.
• •Freeze shaped orecchiette in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer to a bag once frozen solid. They keep for three months. Cook directly from frozen, adding one to two minutes to the cooking time.
• •The traditional pairing is orecchiette con cime di rapa, the bitter broccoli rabe of Puglia cooked in the same water as the pasta, then finished with garlic, anchovy, and olive oil. This is not suggestion. This is what orecchiette was made for.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated, wrapped tightly. Bring to room temperature before shaping.
• •Shaped orecchiette can rest at room temperature up to two hours before cooking. For longer storage, freeze them on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to three months.
• •Do not refrigerate shaped fresh orecchiette. They become sticky and lose their texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 190g)