Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- ** For the Pasta **
- 1 cup (150 g) finely ground semola di grano duro
- 2 cups and 1 tablespoon (250 g) white flour
- Salt
- ** For the Sauce **
- The Cavatelli made from the above ingredients
- 1 pound (500 g) ruchetta
- 1 pound (500 g) blanched, peeled and seeded tomatoes (you could also use canned tomatoes if need be)
- 1 clove garlic
- Abundant fresh basil
- 2/5 cup (100 cc) olive oil
- Freshly grated pecorino romano (use some that's not overly sharp)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
Begin by making the pasta:Sift the flours together onto your work surface and scoop out a depression in the middle of the mound. Work in enough lightly salted warm water to obtain a dough that's about as firm as bread dough.
Knead it quite thoroughly, then break off a chunk and roll it into a snake about as thick as your pinkie (1 cm) and a foot (25 cm) long (keep the remainder of the dough covered with a damp cloth while you're doing this). Cut the snake into slightly less than 1-inch lengths (2 cm), and pressing the blade of the knife into the cylinders lengthwise as you go to obtain what look vaguely like razor clams.
When you have finished making the cavatelli, let them dry on a lightly floured surface, and then cook them in salted water until they are al dente.
You can serve them with meat sauce, fresh tomato sauce, or olive oil, garlic, and lots of shredded hot pepper.
Or you can make a ruchetta sauce from the city of Foggia. Ruchetta is a wild herb that's similar in many ways to arugula, which can be substituted for it if need be.
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. In the meantime, wash the ruchetta very well and shred it coarsely.
Heat the oil in a skillet, sauté the garlic, and when it begins to color add the basil and the tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, reduce the heat, and simmer the sauce for about a half hour. Fifteen minutes into the simmering time, stir the ruchetta into the boiling water, and shortly thereafter the cavatelli. Cook the pasta until it's al dente, then drain the pasta and ruchetta, season the mixture with the sauce, and serve with grated cheese.
An observation: Mr. Sada cooks the ruchetta for a half hour. For my taste that's too long, so I reduced the cooking time. Feel free to adjust it to your taste.
