This Is the Easiest Hand-Formed Pasta to Make at Home, According to a Pasta Expert

When people think about making fresh pasta at home, they often think about flour flying around the kitchen, sticky globs of egg dough pasted onto countertops and glued onto fingers, and hours of cranking a pasta machine, slowly wrestling dough into paper-thin submission. But there’s a whole other kind of pasta-making that doesn’t involve any rolling or even any eggs. Welcome to the world of Southern Italian pasta, and one of my personal favorites: cavatelli. 

Unlike egg pasta, which is often delicate and satiny, cavatelli—which translates to “little hollows”—are rustic, chewy, and ridiculously satisfying. Making the hollow nugget-like noodles is remarkably enjoyable. You need little more than your own two hands. Unlike shapes like fettuccine, pappardelle, and farfalle, which are made by rolling dough into thin sheets and cutting out shapes, cavatelli are formed by hand from small chunks of a pliable water-based dough. Once the dough is mixed and kneaded, it’s rolled into ropes by hand, cut into small segments, and finally pressed and rolled across the counter or a grooved hand-held pasta board to make short, thick, chewy noodles.

I learned to make fresh cavatelli, and all types of southern Italian pasta, when I lived in the tiny town of Conversano in Puglia. There I worked full-time in a Michelin-starred restaurant, learning and perfecting the craft of making fresh pasta from my coworkers and fellow chefs. Since my time as a culinary student and cook in Italy, my love for fresh pasta has only grown, and I now have my own pasta business, selling packaged portions of many varieties of fresh noodles at farmers markets in Martha’s Vineyard, where I live. As a pasta lover who lives and breathes it, I’ve learned a lot about making homemade cavatelli. Here’s some insight into making impressive fresh cavatelli at home.

The Right Flour for Cavatelli

As with the majority of southern Italian pastas, cavatelli dough is made from semolina flour and water, sometimes with a very small addition of olive oil. With so few ingredients, the quality and type of flour you use is vital in guaranteeing flavorful pasta. You want to look for double-milled (also called “rimacinata”) semolina flour. Semolina rimacinata is finely-ground hard durum wheat that has a high protein content, light yellow color, and a soft texture that easily absorbs water. It is ideal for kneading into pasta dough and creating supple, structured noodles.

The double-milled flour is key because you want the grain very finely ground to ensure dough that’s silky, not grainy. You can purchase semolina rimacinata such as the Caputo brand at specialty markets and online. I always look for semolina from Puglia, but that’s a personal preference. Don’t attempt to substitute all-purpose flour for the double-milled semolina flour in the recipe. The resulting dough will be tough with a pasty, glue-like texture.

The Different Styles of Cavatelli

Cavatelli originate from the Molise and Puglia regions of Italy, but the type of pasta has deep roots throughout Southern Italy, with regional nuances. The women I learned from in Puglia showed me how to shape smooth—”lisci”—cavatelli. Each nugget of dough was formed on their wooden counters with just their thumbs, pressing and dragging the dough until it curled over itself, forming the shell-like “little hollows.” The other style of cavatelli are ridged, or “rigati,” and are shaped using specialty pasta boards or hand-cranked pasta makers.

The Tools You’ll Need for Shaping Cavatelli

Smooth cavatelli are the easiest to shape and require no specialty equipment. You can simply use a butter knife or even just your thumb to scrape the dough across a flat surface to give it its hollow curled shape, and I’ve included those directions in my recipe below.

However, I prefer to make my cavatelli with ridges because I love how pasta sauce clings to the nooks. There are many different pasta tools that can be used for shaping cavatelli with ridges, but I’ve found a simple gnocchi board works the best. Hand-held gnocchi boards are fairly affordable and are available at many Italian grocers or online. Other specialty pasta boards, such as a garganelli or malloreddus board, will also work. Or, if you’re interested in artistic experimentation, look for artisanal cavarolo boards made from different types of wood with many different etched designs. As you press and roll the dough against the board, the design will imprint the pasta.

Another option for shaping cavatelli is a crank-operated cavatelli machine. With this small pasta maker you place a hand-rolled rope of dough between the two rollers and crank the handle while the machine cuts and shapes the noodles. It’s a very fun tool to use, and if you foresee making cavatelli on a frequent basis at home, I encourage you to consider buying one.

What Sauce Should You Serve With Cavatelli?

Now let’s talk about what kind of sauce goes with your hand-formed cavatelli that you so lovingly took the time to make. Whether ridged or smooth, cavatelli are fantastic sauce-holders. The indent in the inner cavity, whether shaped by your thumb or rolled into tight overlapping folds, catches and stores sauce very well. If you shape them “rigati” style by rolling the dough on a textured board, you’ll get even more sauce in each bite because it will cling inside the ridges. 

A general rule when pairing pasta with sauce is that you have to pay attention to how the melange will travel from bowl to mouth. For instance, long noodles like pappardelle twirl up on your fork, traveling as a little nest. For that, you’d want a thick sauce that clings well and has components (think a slow-cooked ragu with shredded meat) that get caught up in the twirl and make it to your mouth alongside the pasta. But for short, rustic, dumpling-like pasta shapes like cavatelli, we might reach for a spoon instead of a fork. We want a looser sauce that can pool in the spoon and tuck into the little hollows of each noodle. 

A fresh tomato or slow-cooked tomato sauce or even a ragu are great options, and I’ve included them below. You could also fold tender bites of cooked seasonal vegetables, such as green beans, or shavings of salty cheese like ricotta salata into the final dish. Ultimately, you want a sauce that mirrors the pure simplicity of the handmade cavatelli. Use good ingredients and it’s hard to go wrong.

For the cavatelli: In a large bowl, mix semolina, 150g (2/3 cup) water, and oil together until a clumpy dough forms and there is very little dry semolina remaining at the bottom of the bowl. Use your hands to press and knead the dough together in the bowl until it forms a rough ball. If the dough seems too dry, like there’s no way to get it to come together, knead in 1 to 2 more tablespoons (15 to 30ml) of water.

Transfer dough to a clean counter and knead until smooth, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover dough with a clean dishcloth (or with the now-empty overturned mixing bowl from step 1). Let dough rest for about 15 minutes.

Use a bench scraper or knife to cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Keep all but one piece of dough covered. Working with one piece of dough at a time, use the palms of both hands to press down moderately on the dough and roll until the dough forms an even rope that’s roughly 1/2-inch diameter and 12 to 15 inches long. Make sure the counter beneath the dough is clean (no dusting of flour) so the rope can grip the surface and lengthen as it rolls. 

Cut the rope into 1/2 inch long segments. If making ridges, hold a gnocchi board with your non-dominant hand. Place a segment of dough, cut-side-down, on the top-side of the board (the side closest to the handle) or the back side of a fork. Press the thumb of your dominant hand into the dough and forcefully roll it down the board or length of the back of the fork toward the counter. This will create one large indent on one side of the dough and a grooved pattern on the rolled exterior of the noodle. Repeat with remaining segments of dough. Alternatively, use a crank-operated cavatelli maker for shaping, or use a butter knife and, working with one 1/2 dough segment at a time, drag the butter knife across each piece of dough along the counter until it curls over itself. This will create cavatelli with a smooth exterior.

Use a bench scraper to scoop up cavatelli and transfer noodles to a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle semolina over cavatelli and gently toss until coated. Shake baking sheet so cavatelli arrange themselves in a single layer.

Repeat rolling out ropes, cutting segments, and forming cavatelli with the remaining covered dough. Once all noodles are coated in semolina and arranged in a single layer on a baking sheet, let them partially dry (or “cure”) at room temperature until they have a very light skin, 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on humidity in the air). After the noodles have cured, you can cook them immediately or freeze in a single layer until they harden, about 15 minutes, and then transfer them to a zipperlock bag or airtight plastic container to store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

For Cooking and Serving: In a large sauté pan or skillet, heat sauce until warmed through and hold warm over low heat. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt, return to a boil, then add cavatelli and cook, stir gently with a wooden spoon, chopsticks, or a cooking fork, tasting occasionally until cavatelli are just set with a definite bite, 3 to 6 minutes. 

Using a large spider skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer pasta to the sauce along with 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Cook over high heat, stirring and tossing rapidly, until pasta is al dente and sauce has thickened and begins to coat noodles. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with your preferred grated cheese, if desired.

Special Equipment

Bench scraper, hand-held gnocchi board, fork, butter knife, or crank-operated cavatelli maker for shaping the pasta, large sauté pan or skillet, large pot, large spider skimmer or slotted spoon

Notes

Double-milled semolina flour, also known as Semolina rimacinata is finely-ground hard durum wheat that has a high protein content, light yellow color, and a soft texture. You can purchase semolina rimacinata such as the Caputo brand at specialty markets and online.

Make-Ahead and Storage

You can freeze the cavatelli in a single layer until they harden, about 15 minutes, then transfer them to a zipperlock bag or airtight container to store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Boil from frozen, adding 1 to 2 additional minutes to the cooking time.