Cavatelli Pasta
Cavatelli Pasta is one of the easiest and most versatile homemade kinds of pasta you’ll ever come across.
This is an eggless pasta recipe which uses just two ingredients and can be made in not much more than an hour, plus you won’t need any special equipment. That means no pasta machine or fancy cutters, just simple kitchen supplies and your hands!
Homemade Cavatelli Pasta is typical of many regions of southern Italy, where eggless pasta is common. Originally from Molise and Puglia, you’ll now find cavatelli pasta on the menu in Calabria, Campania, Sicily, Abruzzo, and Basilicata.
Cavatelli are a short pasta that looks a little bit like a shell. Each piece of pasta has a little indentation that perfectly fills with sauce. I gather my family together when we make Cavatelli Pasta because it does take time to make. We use this time for family connection, laughing together and catching up on each other’s busy lives. These occasions fill me up and I love it!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Simple: If you’ve never made fresh pasta, then this is the one for you because it is so easy.
- No Fancy Equipment: You won’t need any special equipment to make cavatelli pasta. Just mix up the dough and practice your techinique. Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be perfect!
- Versatile: Homemade cavatelli pasta is so versatile. While often served with sausage and broccoli or broccoli rabe, it is also wonderful with authentic Bolognese Sauce, this San Marzano tomato sauce, pesto, or use it in my Bacon Asparagus Pasta. Make a batch today and see for yourself!
Ingredients
With just two ingredients in this cavatelli pasta recipe (if you don’t count the salt), you’ll find you always have what you need on hand. Being an eggless pasta, of course, means all that is needed is flour and water.
- Semolina: Use the fine semolina flour, not the coarse kind used for polenta. Fine semolina is similar to flour in texture but slightly coarser. The coarse variety won’t give you the right texture for cavatelli pasta. Look for “semolina flour” or “semola rimacinata” – it’s finely ground durum wheat. My favorite brand is Caputo, which you might find at Italian specialty stores. Other supermarket brands work well, too.
How To Make Cavatelli By Hand
Make a well in the flour, add salt, and gradually mix in warm water.
Combine the ingredient until they form a dough.
Knead until smooth and supple. Then allow to rest.
Roll out a portion of the dough into a long rope.
Cut the rope into short lengths.
Using two fingers, press and roll each piece of dough creating an indentation. This creates a curl in the pasta and makes it longer.
You can also roll pieces of pasta against the tines of a fork, pressing and curling the dough as you roll.
Alternatively, you may have a cavatelli board or a gnocchi board which can be used instead.
Making the dough for cavatelli pasta is just like any other pasta dough except the ingredients will vary. So once you’ve tried this pasta, you might like to move on to other shapes like busiate, tagliatelle, garganelli, tonnarelli, or ricotta cavatelli.
Substitutions
- Semolina flour: This is interchangeable with all-purpose, 00 flour, or even bread flour. In fact, a combination of semolina flour with either of the other flours provides excellent results.
Storage
It is best to cook this pasta immediately. Alternatively, arrange in a single layer on a nonstick parchment-lined baking sheet, covered with a kitchen towel, and keep in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.
To freeze cavatelli pasta for future use, arrange shaped pieces on a baking sheet, freeze solid, then bag for up to 6 months. Cook frozen cavatelli pasta directly in boiling water, adding 1-2 minutes to cook time.
Top Tips
- Roll the dough rope out thinly, almost as thin as a pencil. Cavatelli pasta should be much thinner than gnocchi, so don’t be afraid to stretch it out.
- For a classic look, roll cavatelli pasta by hand. Cut the rope into small pieces and roll them against the tines of a fork, pressing and curling the dough to form the signature shape.
- If you have a cavatelli board or gnocchi board, you can use that instead for shaping.
- If the dough keeps resisting and shrinking back as you roll, set it aside for a few minutes. This allows the dough to relax and become more pliable for easier rolling. Just start rolling a fresh piece of dough while you wait.
- This cavatelli pasta is unlike egg pasta, which is silky and cooks quickly. Eggless pasta has more chew and can take longer to cook than you think, particularly because this shape is rather thick. Check doneness by tasting.
- Remember that being handmade, this cavatelli pasta will be uneven and rustic. The beauty of this pasta is that it isn’t all perfect and uniform like the commercially produced variety.
- This recipe can be doubled or tripled. Remember to allow extra time to shape the pasta by hand.
FAQ
This short, hand-shaped pasta looks a bit like a shell with a hollow for capturing all the sauce. Cavatelli pasta is an eggless, slightly chewy pasta made with only semolina (or other flour) and water.
You may think this pasta looks like gnocchi. However, gnocchi dough is made using potatoes or ricotta and flour while cavatelli pasta use just flour and water. While gnocchi are soft and pillow-like, cavatelli pasta is chewy, firm and dense.
Cavatelli are also very similar to gnocchetti both being made with the same dough though gnocchetti are smaller and slightly different in shape. These can can easily be confused for one another.
Actually, the name means “little hollows” in Italian and is derived from the Italian word for hollow, “incava‘. That hollow creates the perfect vessel for capturing and containing lots of tasty sauce. Ingenious, isn’t it? In America, this pasta is often known as Gavadeels. Another version of cavatelli pasta includes ricotta in the dough. Cavatelli and broccoli are a common and very delicious pairing!
Serving suggestions
Cavatelli Pasta is wonderful served with various sauces even with a simple Garlic Butter Sauce. If you love this, be sure to make my delectable Ricotta Cavatelli!
To mop up the sauce, you’ll want some bread, and this is made from scratch. Garlic bread is just the thing. To round off the meal, why not have a couple of salads on the side? Try my Pumpkin and Spinach salad or a Green Bean salad.
Related Recipes
Chicken and Vodka Pasta
Pangrattato
Pesto Trapanese
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Cavatelli Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (286 grams) finely ground semolina flour see notes
- ¾ cup warm water more or less as needed
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the semolina flour on a work surface (or in a bowl), make a well in the middle, and sprinkle with salt.
- Add most of water into the well in the centre of the semolina flour.
- Start combining water with the semolina flour using your fingers or a fork, pulling in the flour and forming a dough. Add more water, if needed or more flour if the dough is too sticky. The dough should feel soft and supple, a bit like playdough.
- Knead well for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic then form into a ball. If you began the cavatelli dough in a bowl, scrape it out onto a work surface to knead.
- Wrap with plastic and set aside for 30 minutes to rest. This rest will make all the difference!
- After 30 minutes, cut off ¼ of the dough. Rewrap the remaining dough.
- Roll the cut off portion of dough into a sausage shape. You shouldn't need any extra semolina/flour but if you do, use it sparingly.
- Continue rolling until you have a long rope about ½ inch (or approximately 1cm) in diameter. Be sure to roll the rope as thin as this otherwise it will be too thick to cook properly. It may be easier to cut it in half and keep rolling to achieve this thickness.
- Cut the rope into ¾-1 inch (2-2.5cm) lengths.
- Using two fingers (the index and the middle finger), press firmly onto each piece of dough and drag towards you creating a curl and an indentation. It's important to press firmly enough to thin the dough and create a curled pasta. This might take a little practice.
- Place in a single layer and not touching on parchment paper that has been dusted with semolina.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. When boiling, add one heaped tablespoon of salt.
- Add the cavatelli to the salted, boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes. This will depend on the size of the cavatelli. Taste after 5 minutes and cook longer if needed. Cooking may be even longer than 10 minutes if you have made larger cavatelli.
- Drain, reserving some of the pasta water, then combine and serve with your favorite sauce.
Notes
- Semolina flour is very finely ground durum wheat semolina also known as semolina rimacinata. The brand I prefer is Caputo which I find at my local Italian food store. There are other brands available at supermarkets which are also quite good. But be sure to use the correct semolina. It is very fine but not quite as fine as flour. The coarse variety (often used for polenta) won’t produce good cavatelli.
- Roll the rope thinly – almost as thin as a pencil. This isn’t like potato gnocchi. Cavatelli should be much thinner than gnocchi.
- For a different appearance, you can also roll pieces of dough against the tines of a fork, pressing and curling the dough as you roll. Alternatively, you may have a cavatelli board or gnocchi board which can be used instead.
- If the dough keeps shrinking back when rolling, set that piece aside and start rolling a fresh piece of dough. The dough set aside will rest and relax and roll out more easily.
- To freeze – Place the tray of pasta in the freezer. When frozen, transfer to a freezer bag and use within 6 months. Cook from frozen. Frozen pasta will take longer to cook.
Nutritional Estimate Per Serving
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. For accurate results, it is recommended that the nutritional information be calculated based on the ingredients and brands you use.
Amazingly easy and good! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Marjorie!
I must admit I was a little nervous to test out this recipe because I have never made homemade pasta before. Thanks to your clear instructions, it was a delicious success! I can’t wait to make this cavatelli pasta recipe again.
wow i never thought to make my own cavatelli – you make it look so easy
You made this so easy for me Marcella. Thanks for all the tips as my pasta turned out perfect. I even surprised myself!
Oh my nonna used to make cavatelli all the time and I loved them. I didn’t know it was only 3 ingredients. I am going to make them this weekend, I’m so excited.
Enjoying pasta even more now because of how easy it is, and the fact that this cavatelli pasta is made eggless.
Would love to try this Cavatelli pasta.:) Looks so yummy. It is indeed a versatile homemade pasta.:) Can’t wait to make it. Thanks!:)
This cavatelli was so delicious! I loved how fresh it tasted!
I was worried I couldn’t make my own but the step by step instructions were so easy to follow.
This is perfect for kids meals, I just love cavatelli pasta, thanks!
Delicious home made pasta that is so fun to make!
Hi, Marcellina.. Kinda dumb question, but like, how many ounces will this make? I’d like to pre-make pasta and pack in 1# bags for future use.. Thanks much..
Hi Steve, certainly not a dumb question. I’d say it makes between 12 to 14 ounces. Frozen cavatelli will take longer to cook to be sure to factor that in when you pull the bags from the freezer. Do the taste test to tell when they are ready. Enjoy!
thanks for this easy recipe with semolina ! it’s perfect
Im so excited when I got my semolina flour to make this. so easy to follow your recipe.
absolutely frustrating…I have made Cavatelli pasta many times, with egg and without egg, just flour, water, and salt. Never had a problem until now! with the egg I boiled the pasta 30 minutes or more and never got cooked. the second time without egg, came too thick, and also never really cooked. the only thing I can think of is not kneading it long enough. what do you think?
Hi Nick, are you using my recipe? It doesn’t contain any egg! If you are following my recipe using semolina flour and water – you’ll knead it for 5 to 10 minutes or until it is really smooth then let it rest. IF you are are using my recipe, follow the instructions that say roll the dough into a rope 1/2 inch in diameter. That’s almost like a pencil. Then cut the rope into ¾-1 inch (2-2.5cm) lengths. Then press firmly onto each piece of dough and drag towards you creating a curl and an indentation.
I think you may have formed cavatelli that are too large and that’s why they aren’t cooking. Another problem could be that the cavatelli have dried out too long and won’t cook.
Hope this helps!
I’ve never tried this type of pasta before but this recipe has me looking forward to doing so. I also appreciate the different tips provided with this recipe as well.
So delicious! I love making homemade pasta and this Cavatelli recipe is one of my new favorites!
Such an easy and delicious recipe! This is so much better homemade and everyone asks for more!
Sure is!!
I have been looking for recipes that use semolina and this is perfect! My whole family enjoyed this cavatelli pasta!
I love cavatelli! I’ve not made my own though but it certainly looks easy enough! Fresh pasta is delicious. For smaller holidays I always make my own…definitely want to try this.