This is different to the usual fresh pasta people might think of. You don’t need a pasta machine or special equipment, it uses hard durum wheat instead of “normal” soft wheat flour, and it doesn’t require any eggs, so it’s incidentally vegan.

From what I’ve read, you can make this with soft wheat flour or standard semolina flour if finding the right flour is difficult.

If you can, though, it’s worth seeking out the more finely milled semola rimacinata. The durum wheat milled down into semola rimacinata has a much higher protein content than soft wheat flour (like US all-purpose or even an Italian 00), meaning it gives the pasta more body and structure. Versus standard semolina, the rimacinata’s finer milling means the pasta will be more uniform and easier to knead.

Ingredients

  • 200 g semola rimacinata (finely milled durum wheat flour)
  • 100 g water, tepid (ca. 20 °C)
  • Salt

Method

Pour the flour into a mound on a work surface. Add a pinch of salt. Then make a well in the center and pour in the water. Mix the water into the flour until it’s completely absorbed. Knead the dough until it’s homogeneous and smooth, about 5-10 minutes.

Avoid adding more water or flour if the dough does not immediately come together. If the dough still hasn’t come together after kneading for five minutes, then a small amount of additional flour or water can be added if the dough is too wet and sticking to the board, or too dry and cracking.

(The more finely milled semola rimacinata will come together more easily.)

Shape the dough into a compact block, and tightly wrap it. Let it rest for 30-60 minutes.

To shape the cavatelli, break off a small amount (ca. 50 g) of the rested dough. Leave the remaining dough covered to prevent it from drying out.

Roll the portion of dough into a roughly 5 mm (1/4") diameter snake. Then cut the rope into roughly 1 cm (1/2") pieces. With your thumb or a butter knife, form each piece into a piece of pasta by dragging it front to back lengthways while pressing to form a curl. A fair amount of pressure is needed to ensure the pieces are fairly thin.

Lightly coat the pieces in additional flour to prevent the pieces sticking together.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until they’re just tender, 3-4 minutes.

If you’re not cooking the cavatelli immediately, freeze them for up to a month.