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A few weeks ago after a nice day of golfing Jason and I stopped into Ianiro’s Italian store on Mayfield Road in Munson. We were just going to grab a few beverages and some sandwiches, but something caught my eye in their freezer case, homemade cavatelli. See my old lady (she would kill me if she knew I called her that) just loves cavatelli and usually the only time she gets homemade cavatelli is when we go down to Little Italy. Plus, she’s been stressed out lately over the wedding planning, so I thought I’d be a sweetheart and get them for her. To my surprise for maybe a 1/4 of a pound they were $3.99! When it comes to food, I’m not a cheap bastard, but $16 a pound for flour and water is a bit excessive. I ended up buying the damn things anyway with a commitment to learn how to make them from scratch. And that’s where we are today.
Before I get into things there are a few things I want to mention about making cavatelli from scratch. First and foremost, it is labor intensive and time consuming work, so if you are bothered by that you should probably stop reading now and start saving so you can buy fresh cavatelli. Second, I looked everywhere online for a step by step guide on how to actually make the cavatelli, but most were pretty poor and graphically challenged. This how-to is going to have a lot of pictures, but it is in order to help you to see how to exactly make these right. Finally, make this a family event and include your kids. Its processes like making cavatelli that are slowing becoming memories of the past.
Cavatelli Recipe
16 oz. Ricotta Cheese
2 Eggs
1 Pinch of Salt
3 Cups (1 pound) All Purpose Flour
1.Pour 2 1/2 cups of the flour into a bowl and make a well in the middle.
2. Drop the 2 eggs and the ricotta cheese into the well.
3. Using a circular motion, slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs and cheese.
4. Once all of the flour has been combined with the eggs and cheese, knead the dough together until a soft, but not sticky dough is formed. It can depend on the day, but if the dough still remains sticky add more flour.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest for at least a half an hour.
How to Make Cavatelli
1. Take your ball of dough and divide it into quarters.
2. Working with one quarter at a time, lay the dough out on a lightly floured surface and divide it into quarters again.
3. Take a piece of the divided dough (now and 1/8 of the original amount) and roll it into a long tube 1/4 inch in diameter. Although this picture shows me rolling the dough on the board, I actually found that it was a lot easier to work into a tube while holding it in the air and spinning it back and forth between my palms.
4. Divide the tube into pieces 1 inch long with either a pastry cutter or a knife.
5. Now this is the fun part. Using the edge of a butter knife or pastry cutter, with the device at a 45 degree angle, press on each piece of dough and pull across the length of it. You find that the motion causes the dough to curl up the edge of the impliment. This process is definately easier to understand with the pictures below. If you don’t get it at first, don’t be discouraged. Just keep working with it using different amounts of pressure on the dough and eventually you’ll get into the grove.
6. When you are done with each cavatelli, have a lightly floured pan near by so you can toss them in and move on to the next.
Storing Your Cavatelli
You have two options when storing your cavatelli refrigerator or freezer. If you plan on storing your cavatelli in the fridge, you want to make sure you let them dry a bit on the counter, at least an hour. Once you’re sure they won’t stick together any longer, pack them into a Ziploc bag and stick them in the fridge. Make sure you use them within a week or two.
The best option for storing your cavatelli is by far the freezer. Once you are done with your cavatelli making, place your pan into the freezer for a half an hour. That should be long enough to allow the cavatelli to tighten up a bit and they should no longer stick together. Place the chilled cavatelli in a Ziploc freezer bag and store them in your freezer for up to a year.
Cooking Your Cavatelli
If you are like us you won’t be able to wait to try your cavatelli, so you’ll be cooking them fresh. They should only take a few minutes to cook in a pot of salted water on a rapid boil. You’ll know when they are done because they will float. Always make sure to taste one before you take it off the heat though.
Frozen cavatelli will take just a bit longer to cook, maybe 5 – 7 minutes, but again, you’ll know when they are done because they will float to the top.
Further Reading:
For those of you that enjoyed this post, 101 Cookbooks has a nice how to on making gnocchi like an Italian grandmother.
Some other posts you might enjoy:
June 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I love Cavatelli and never made them. They have always been my favorite when I was growing up. I make Gnocchi all the time. Next time I will have to try making the cavatelli.
June 26th, 2007 at 10:02 am
These look so good. I just read the 101 Cookbooks post on gnocchi and thought I’d check you out too. I’ve been wanting to make pasta since I took a class a while back, but I haven’t gotten around to procuring the machine. But here, I don’t need the machine; great!
June 26th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Oh, and — all of the lovely photos are wonderfully helpful.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:50 am
These are a family tradition for Christmas day at our house. We love them. A few years ago my father (82) and I made them from scratch. You are absolutely right about labor intensive, but oh how it’s worth it.
We were buying them dried from a place in San Leandro California. Not anymore
September 13th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Oh and I forgot to mention, my dad taught us to use two fingers to roll, or as he calls it, dig the cavatelli.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Best recipe with great “how to” pictures. I made these and they were delicioso. I used to roll with my fingers but using the patry cutter was much easier. These are my daughter’s favorite and she’s coming for dinner today. Thanks for making it a lot easier to do and now……..mangia, mangia!!
May 1st, 2008 at 5:18 am
Thanks for including pictures with the recipe. I didn’t really understand how to form the noodles by reading just the recipes. My grandson’s birthday is Sat. and I’m elected to make a hotdish for about 40 people-So I better get started making my cavateli’s. Thanks again. I’m so excited to make these.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Thanks. I had been searching for a cavatelli recipe made with ricotta. the semolina cavatelli are great, but these are perfection. Reminds of the days my grandmother called me Nunzi.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I’m going to try it. My grandmother used to make the dough when I was a kid and I was in charge of rolling them for the final step.
August 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
A recipe and the step-by-step photos – nice work! I am this for a hyperlink on my blog entry on the Feast of the Assumption in Cleveland’s Little Italy. Thanks!
August 30th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Cavatelli has been my favorite pasta since I was young in New York. Can’t find any here in Virginia. I have paid more than $40.00 to have it shipped from up north. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe. Will never buy Cavatelli again!!!! And, you are right…it is fun to make it into a family project.
October 7th, 2008 at 9:55 am
You are the man. Cavetelli was my favorite pasta growing up as a child in the NY, NJ area. I now live in a region of the country were they are not available. The only thing we can get are the dryed box type (which are no comparison). Yesterday I made your recipe and they were great. Your instructions and pictures made the process painless. They did take a while to make but it was well worth it and by the end I really had the knack. I think next time it will go much faster. I’ve been craving these for soooo long – thanks again!
November 8th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Cant wait to try this. Born and raised in NJ this was always our favorite. Moved to NC 13 yrs ago. no such thing. My mom used to bring us some when she would visit and my 10 year old now thinks they are called New jersey Noodles. Now she lives in FL my supply line has dried up. I think it is time to start a new family tradition. Thanks so much
November 27th, 2008 at 12:08 am
I live in CA where you just cannot find cavatelli. This recipe has me so excited as I am going to make it with my son this weekend. Thanks!
January 12th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I am so glad I located this web site. I am Irish and my mother in law Italian often made them. She passed and my family loves them so much. They are better than store bought or frozen.
Thanks
January 25th, 2009 at 11:20 am
thank you for posting th is recipe although i have been making them for years always nice to see how someone else does it your recipe is almost exact the only difference is we roll them on the inside of a fine grater to give them a design my mother in lw did this for years and learned from her
January 25th, 2009 at 11:20 am
thank you for posting th is recipe although i have been making them for years always nice to see how someone else does it your recipe is almost exact the only difference is we roll them on the inside of a fine grater to give them a design my mother in lw did this for years and learned from her
February 9th, 2009 at 10:45 am
I am happy to find this recipe. I plan on using Semolina instead of all purpose flour though. Mama-in-law always made them and I did not get her recipe before she died. I have a machine for them and plan on doing them today. If you do not think the semolina will work please let me know asap. In fact I have waited this long, guess I can wait a little longer and hopefully you will respond within the next week. THEN I will make them.
Thanks so much.
March 15th, 2009 at 9:04 am
thanks 4 clear,easy 2 unnerstan directions and 1 of the best websites. hope you can hang in there and go the distance.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Hello all, who said that real Italian cavatielli are made with ricotta?? that is an American invention , add-on or whatever. I lived in southern Italy for more than 20 years- no one adds this to their recipe, I will be very happy to show you all how to make them- it is labor intensive and time consuming , but you “dig” the furrows in the pasta with 4-5 fingers at a time. see ” dig” =Cavare= cavatielli.
April 6th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Question: How many people does this recipe serve? I’m gonna make this for Easter. I’m feeding four adults and two kids. This going to be enough?
April 8th, 2009 at 8:15 am
hmm… my grandmother makes what she calls cavatelli but she makes it with potato like the gnocchi… but it LOOKS more like these pictures than the gnocchi pictures… and I have “heard” of riccota gnocchi, so are there potato cavatelli? or is my grandmother using the wrong word?? my mother told me my grandmother calls it cavatelli because the way its rolled means something about thumbprint? and she uses her thumb to make the roll….
April 13th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Made this for Easter. IT ROCKED. Gathered family around the kitchen table to help roll them out. Very fun, somewhat time consuming, very worth it. (Oh, and I doubled the recipe and had loads of leftovers.) I served it with a garlic-almond sauce (see this month’s Gourmet mag) that my dad declared was one of the best he’d ever had. Thanks, EatingCleveland.
May 24th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you! They have never heard of cavatelli here in the south, but being from the Mayfield area I can never get it out of my mind or heart. The dried pasta can never compare to Longo’s or Manga Manga’s Now I can make my own. Now if I can get these people to use fresh mozzeralla in their salad instead of cheddar. Oye!