Orecchiette literally translates to little ears and you can see why. They look hard to make, but you will find with a bit of practice it's easy and rewarding. I roll the orecchiette on my homemade gnocchi paddle, to give them a grooved shape, but you can simply use a flat surface as well.
Ingredients
For the Orecchiette
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g semolina flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 150 g/ml warm water
Instructions
- Mix together the semolina, flour and salt.
- Make a well in the centre and add the water. Mix well and knead to a firm, elastic dough (about 10 minutes). The dough will seem dry at first, but just keep working it. The trick here is in the firmness of the dough, if the dough is too soft you will struggle to shape the orecchiette.
- Shape the dough by rolling it into long rolls, about 2cm in diameter, then cut the logs into sections about 1cm wide.
- Drag the individual sections over a work surface or gnocchi paddle with the tip of a butter knife. Use a slight downward pressure as you drag the pasta towards yourself, not so much as to squash it. This technique will take a bit of practice so don't worry about being perfect.
- Flour your orecchiette so that they do not stick to each other.
- To cook, simply bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the orecchiette (10min).
- Drain and serve with your favourite sauce.
Notes
Orecchiette can be frozen on trays, transferred to plastic bags and kept frozen for later use. Simply cook them from frozen.
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