Orecchiette

This is the first time I make my own Orecchiette by scratch... in Italy you can buy them everywhere, both dry and fresh, but of course when you make them yourself they taste so much better. The recipe is very simple and you need only 3 ingredients... semolina, salt and water. It takes quite a long time to make Orecchiette... if it is your first time.

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This is a typical Sunday lunch dish....
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ORECCHIETTE

(for 2 people)

Ingredients: 200 g durum wheat semolina (in Italian "semola"), pinch of salt, warm water (as much as needed).

Combine the semolina, unbleached flour and salt, and mound it on a large work surface. Make a well in the center with your finger and pour in 3-4Tbsp. water. Begin pulling the flour from the inner wall of the well into the liquid. Add more water and continue forming a paste until the flour has absorbed as much water as possible with becoming hard or dry. Knead vigorously on a lightly floured board until the dough is smooth and elastic. This may take 20 minutes or so. Form the dough into a ball and cover (to avoid it dries up).

.Pull off a scant handful of the dough (keep the rest of the dough covered). On a lightly floured board, roll the dough into a rope about 1 cm in diameter. Cut the rope into slices 1 cm thick. Put the knife on your slice of dough, push and "drad" it until the dough bends on itself and gets the shape of a shell. At this point take the dough, put it on your inch and turn it upside down... here you have your orecchietta (little ear).

It is more difficult to explain than to do it... you should just try it, it is not that difficult but it might take a long time the first time you do it.

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You cook orecchiette in salted boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. Orecchiette are small and they cook very quickly. Here is a sauce you can make for orecchiette, one of the typical dishes of Puglia.

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Info&Research: ORECCHIETTE.

Orecchiette are a type of pasta native to region Puglia (South of Italy), whose shape resembles a small ear (in Italian, "orecchio" means "ear" and "orecchietta" means "small ear"). An orecchietta looks like a small white dome with a thinner center than edge and a rough surface.

Orecchiatte are the most authentic symbol of the gastronomy from Puglia and the typical regional recipe combines orecchiette with turnip heads. The classic Italian cookbook "Il cucchiaio d'argento" ("The silver spoon") suggests that orecchiette are ideal for vegetable sauces. Another very famous recipe in Puglia is orecchiette with tomato sauce and cacioricotta.