Ricotta Cavatelli
Ricotta Cavatelli are tasty, handmade pasta that requires just four ingredients!
This crowd pleaser is delicate yet hearty and teams perfectly with lots of different sauces. Impressive but easy enough for the novice pasta maker, learn how to make these ricotta cavatelli today!!
Why you’ll love this recipe
Ricotta Cavatelli are a soft and pillowy-light pasta that is traditionally hand rolled and shaped. Hand cranked machines are available to roll and shape the pasta for you but I’d much rather go the traditional route. It’s just so easy!
While the original cavatelli are made with just flour, water and salt, this recipe contains ricotta. Ricotta creates a tender dough that just melts in your mouth and is super easy to work with.
This pasta originates from southern Italy and is perfect with chunky sauces. Served with ragu sauce this pasta is amazing but I can’t go past cavatelli and broccoli! I know you’ll love it too!
For complete ingredient quantities and full instructions, please scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Ingredients
Like any homemade pasta recipe, the ingredients here are basic and that choosing the best is important.
- 00 flour for pasta – alternatively use all purpose flour or even bread flour
- egg – free range is best for beautiful, rich yolks
- ricotta – this must be well drained
- salt – so important to bring out the flavor of the other ingredients
If you have leftover ricotta you may be asking, can you freeze ricotta? Yes you can. Just follow all my tips about freezing ricotta here.
Instructions
- Combine ricotta and egg.
- Add flour and stir to combine drizzle in water until the dough comes together.
- Knead to form a soft dough and set aside for 30 minutes
- Take a small portion of dough, roll into a rope and cut small lengths. Use two fingers to press and roll each piece.
- Continue until all the dough is used.
- Cook in boiling water until pasta rises to the top. Combine with your choice of sauce.
Tips for success and FAQ’s
This is quite an easy dough to prepare but there are few important points to remember. Firstly, don’t skip the step of draining the ricotta. Extra ricotta water will change the texture of the dough.
Ricotta cavatelli dough is soft but not sticky. To fix sticky dough, add a little flour while kneading until the texture is right. And if the dough is too dry, sprinkle over a little water while kneading until the texture is right.
When rolling the dough rope, don’t flour the work surface otherwise it’ll be harder to roll. Be sure to keep the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap.
Just like regular cavatelli, roll pieces of pasta against the tines of a fork, pressing and curling the dough as you roll. Alternatively, use a cavatelli board or gnocchi board or simply use the work surface for a pasta with no ridges. Check out my cavatelli recipe for more tips.
It’s not hard to tell when these are ready because they will float to the surface just like gnocchi. Scoop them up with a slotted spoon and coat right away with delicious sauce.
Yes, freeze on the baking sheet then when frozen transfer to zip lock bags. Store for up to three months in the freezer. Cook from frozen. Keep in mind that frozen pasta will take longer to cook.
Absolutely! This is an excellent recipe when feeding a crowd.
I don’t own a machine to roll cavatelli but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. I’m thinking that the dough may need some adjustment in consistency.
Serving suggestions
Ricotta Cavatelli are perfect with chunky sauces. Our fav is this Authentic Bolognese Sauce
And the classic Cavatelli and Broccoli is delicious with these ricotta cavatelli.
More recipes like this
Cavatelli – Just like this pasta but without ricotta.
Garganelli – This is a hand shaped, egg pasta.
Busiate – Eggless pasta that’s hand shaped into a flat spiral.
Made this recipe?
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Ricotta Cavatelli Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 ounces (425 grams) ricotta cheese See Note 1
- 3½ cups (420 grams) 00 flour
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup (60ml) water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Drain the ricotta cheese
- Before you begin, drain excess liquid off the ricotta cheese. You may need to drain the ricotta cheese for anything from one to four hours.
- To do this, line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth or paper towels.
- Set the strainer over a bowl, making sure that the bottom of the straining as at least 1 inch (2.5cm) above the bottom of the bowl.
- Spoon the ricotta cheese into the lined strainer.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the cheese is crumbly and has released most of the liquid.
Prepare the dough
- Combine ricotta and egg in a large bowl.
- Add flour and salt then stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula to combine, drizzling in the water until the dough comes together.
- If the pasta dough is too wet, knead in a little more flour. If the pasta dough is too dry, drizzle in a little more water.
- Knead it to form a soft dough. Don't over knead the dough. Just knead until the dough comes together and is well combined. It doesn't need to be smooth like bread dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes
- In the meantime, line two large baking sheets with non stick baking paper and dust with fine semolina or flour.
- After 30 minutes, take a small portion of dough and rewrap the remaining dough.
- Roll the dough into long rope about ½ inch (or approx 1cm) in diameter. 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. Try not to flour the work surface or it will be too hard to roll the dough.
- Use a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork to shape the ricotta cavatelli. Use two fingers to press firmly onto each piece of dough and drag towards you creating a curl and an indentation. Use a little dusting of flour or fine semolina if the dough is sticking. Place ricotta cavatelli on the prepared baking sheets in a single layer and not touching.
- Continue forming the cavatelli until all the dough is used.
Cooking the ricotta cavatelli
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add a couple of tablespoons of salt to the boiling water.
- Cook in batches in large pot of salted boiling water until pasta rises to the top.
- As the pasta rises, scoop out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large serving bowl, mixing in spoonfuls of your favorite pasta sauce.
Notes
- Make homemade ricotta cheese with my easy recipe.
- Don’t skip the step of draining the ricotta. Extra ricotta water will change the texture of the dough.
- To fix sticky dough, add just a little flour while kneading until the texture is right.
- To fix a dry dough, sprinkle over a little water while kneading until the texture is right.
- When rolling the dough rope, don’t flour the work surface otherwise it’ll be harder to roll.
- Be sure to keep the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap.
- Just like regular cavatelli, roll pieces of pasta against the tines of a fork, pressing and curling the dough as you roll. Alternatively, use a cavatelli board or gnocchi board or simply use the work surface for a pasta with no ridges. Check out my cavatelli recipe for more tips.
- It’s easy to tell when they are cooked because they will float and can just be scooped up with a slotted spoon.
- This recipe can be made in advance and is suitable to freeze. Freeze on a baking sheet then transfer to heavy duty freeze bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Be sure to cook from frozen.
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.
My container of ricotta is 16oz. Should I measure it after straining or before to get 15oz? I’m assuming before since that’s how it’s packaged, but I wanted to double check; thanks!
Yes, you can measure before straining. Alternatively, I would just strain the whole container and not waste the 1 ounce of ricotta. Simply proceed with the recipe and add a 1/4 cup more flour.
How long should the dough be kneaded? it is soft, not tacky, but not a smooth ball either (is not like a bread dough)
Fran, just knead it to form a soft dough. It won’t be smooth like bread dough. Hope that helps. I’ll add extra notes to the recipe card.
Cavatelli or gnocchi – Regardless of the name, they are quite good. I made them gluten free with Cup4Cup flour and they tasted amazing. Semplice, buonissimi e gustosi! Grazie!
Thank you for your feedback, Mitch. I happy to hear that it worked so well for you with the gluten free flour.
Can you use Semolina flour or mix of Semolina and All Purpose Flour ?
Ciao Rosa! I have never used semolina flour for my ricotta cavatelli. You could try but I’m not sure if the texture would be the same. Semolina flour draws more moisture than 00 flour so the ratios would be different. I recommend sticking to 00 flour.
The formatted version of the recipe here omits both draining the ricotta and adding the salt to the pasta dough. 🙁 make sure you read the notes section before you start and don’t forget to add the salt…
But now having eaten them, I will say that it wasn’t a big deal to miss the salt when eaten with a flavorful sauce. Very tasty and good texture.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks. I will add extra notes to clarify.
This is by far one of the easiest cavatelli recipes ever! The first time I made Cavatelli, I was always intimidated to make it and thought it would be tough. Then I found this recipe and tried it. The instructions are well written, followed it all and the result was amazing!
Thank you!
You’re welcome. It’s so rewarding to that my instructions have helped you make cavatelli, Didem!
Just the way my Bisnonna used to make them – love 💕
I love this recipe and it’s basically the same as I learned from my Italian grandmother. The only thing to watch out for is the Ricotta. Most containers are now 15 oz, not 16.
Yes, Christine, this is an excellent recipe! Thank you!
Tender and delicious. This is my go to recipe
Thanks for coming back to review the recipe, Lisa! I’m so glad you loved it!
Can the dough be made a day or so before shaping? And, if so, should I bring the dough to room temp on shaping day? Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Hi Amanda, I’ve never made this dough in advance so I think you’d need to experiment with that. Next time I make ricotta cavatelli I will keep a portion out and see if it works. The dough does come together very quickly so that why I’ve never made it in advance. If you need these prepared, you could freeze the them once made. Let me know how it turns out and check back to this page when I update it with my test!
My first attempt at making homemade pasta. A go to recipe . Delicious with pesto sauce and red wine.
Dorina, I’m happy that you chose my ricotta cavatelli for your first attempt at pasta making! With pesto and a glass of red! Oh my goodness, that’s perfect!
Incredibly delicious. I have to make this tonight!
This is sooo delicious!
This recipe is so easy and versatile! Thank you for the helpful tutorial as i have never made Cavatelli.
You’re welcome, Raquel!
This was so easy to make and tastes delicious! Great recipe!
So happy that you enjoyed the ricotta cavatelli!
They are so beautifully and professionally made!
Thanks Angie!