Disclaimer: This post is a paid partnership with Mutti. Like everything that we recommend on our blog, we use and love their products, and hope that you will too!
This week’s pasta is a little something special that we put together for Mutti. Simple but delicious cavatelli, served in a quick sugo, and topped with fresh ricotta salata, pine nuts, and lemon zest. This is the kind of thing that Nonna would cook for quick lunch break on a big day of pasta or sauce making. Easy, honest food, that’s guaranteed to always hit the spot.
Buon appetito,
– Al & Al & El.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Pasta
- 480 g semolina fine
- 270 ml water
Sauce
- 80 ml olive oil extra virgin
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 700 ml Mutti Passata Tomato Purée
- Small handful fresh basil
- 60 g pine nuts
- Zest of one lemon
- 80 g ricotta salata
- Salt pepper, sugar, to taste
Instructions
- Form a well with the semolina, and gradually pour the water into the centre as you stir it together with a fork or your fingers. Once it holds together, knead vigorously for 10 minutes. If it is sticking to your work surface, add a small amount of extra semolina; if it is too dry, wet your hands lightly and continue kneading.
- Seal the dough in cling wrap, and rest for 30 minutes, away from heat and direct sunlight.
- Add garlic and oil to a cold deep frypan, and then cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, until garlic softens. Stir constantly and don’t allow to brown.
- Add 4-5 basil leaves, and cook for another minute, before pouring in the passata. Season to taste with sugar and salt, and then raise the heat to low-medium, cooking for another 25 minutes. Stir occasionally, and if the sauce becomes too dry and begins to catch, lower the heat and add a splash of water.
- With the dough rested, roll it into long ropes of no thicker than one centimetre in diameter, and then chop into short lengths of approximately two centimetres. If you’re having trouble rolling, lightly wet your fingertips to help the dough grip.
- To form the cavatelli, push down with a fingertip on each piece and drag gently towards yourself, allowing the pasta to roll over your finger. For ridges, use a gnocchi board or the back of a fork.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a vigorous boil, and then cook the cavatelli for 14-16 minutes, or until no raw white dough is visible when the pasta is cut into. If you’ve rolled your dough into thinner ropes, your cooking time will be shorter. Drain, retaining a little pasta water, and stir directly into the sauce frypan, adding some of that water back in if the sauce is to dry.
- Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over low heat for 2-3 minutes, until they begin to brown. Finely chop the remaining basil leaves, and toss through the pasta with the pine nuts and lemon zest.
- Serve with freshly grated ricotta salata, and a crack of pepper.
Made this recipe? We’d love to see!Mention @pastaetal or tag #pastaetal!
great!
Thank you so much!