Cavatelli alla Molisana
Molise · pasta · serves 4 · 75 min total · medium
Molise is Italy's youngest and least-visited region — its pasta is hand-shaped daily, often by grandmothers, never bought dry.
Ingredients
- 400 g semolina
- 200 ml warm water
- 300 g pork sausage
- 500 g plum tomatoes
- 1 small onion
- 1 chilli red chilli
- 1 handful basil
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 80 g pecorino
- 1 tsp salt
Method
- Knead semolina with water and salt for 8 minutes. Rest 20 minutes.
- Roll into ropes 1 cm thick. Cut 2 cm lengths. With three fingers, drag each piece across a wooden board to make a hollow shell (the cavato).
- Sauce: brown sausage meat (cased squeezed out) in olive oil with onion and chilli. Add tomatoes, simmer 30 minutes.
- Boil cavatelli 4 minutes. Toss in the sauce with basil.
- Pecorino on top.