Homemade Orecchiette Pasta

How to make Orecchiette Pasta at Home? Homemade Orecchiette Pasta is what we want to share with you today in this article.

The Orecchiette pasta is a small pasta shape. It is a traditional pasta of the Bari and Puglia area in Italy.
So, If you have been in this region of Italy, you will no doubt have come across and seen how naturally the ladies of Puglias prepare this type of pasta in an artisanal way.
I want to share with you today how you can prepare this type of pasta with your own hands.

What is Orecchiette pasta?

It is a typical pasta of Southern Italy, which names so for its shape similar to the ear.
Furthermore, Orecchiette prepares with Semolina flour, or durum wheat flour as we might otherwise call it.
As well, all the Southern Italy pasta types make with Semolina flour. And it has wide use in the pasta industry use, too. Unlike this, other types of pasta like Tagliatelle, Lasagne, or Ravioli make with all-purpose flour and eggs.

First, the recipe for orecchiette pasta is simple, as it requires only semolina flour, warm water, and salt.
Furthermore, semolina flour makes the pasta maintain the proper shape and firmness to cook it fresh at the moment or a few hours later on the same day we make them.
Also, we can preserve this pasta dried or frozen to cook it later.
Moreover, Orecchiette is a Puglia traditional pasta, as we make Petka pasta in the South or Jufka in the Northeast.

Ingredients-4 Servings

• 250 g of durum wheat( semolina flour)
• 125 ml of lukewarm water
• a pinch of salt

Directions

Pasta Dough

1. The first step is to make the dough for the orecchiette pasta. All we need is Semolina flour and warm water. In this way, the dough will be elastic and easier to knead.
2. First, we mix a little salt in warm water. Then, start to make the dough by gradually adding water to the durum flour. We add water gradually, as it may take even less, but you may need to add a little more while working. Always add warm water.
3. Next, we knead the pasta dough. First, it will be a sturdy pasta dough. The final result after kneading it is a soft, elastic, and smooth surface pasta dough.
   The kneading process is simple, but it requires more time simile to 00 flour dough types.

Preparation of Orecchiette Pasta

1. When we have the orecchiette dough ready, we wrap it with a cellophane bag.
2. Then, we will start to give shape orecchiette pasta. So, we take a part of our dough.
   The dough we want to cut into shapes will first be shaped like a stick the thickness of a finger and cut with a knife into pieces the width of a finger or 1-2 cm.
3. Using a knife with a round and somewhat wide tip, we will position it on one side of the cut dough part. On a hard wooden surface, stand the knife at an angle. Then, begin to slide over the piece of dough cut from one corner to the other.
   
4. Then with the fingertips, we will turn the dough in the opposite giving it the characteristic shape.
5. Next, place them on a clean napkin spaced apart until the end of the entire prepared dough. Also, you can sprinkle a little semolina flour.
6. We can cook fresh orecchiette pasta directly, leave them like this for a few hours, or dry or freeze them to preserve them for later.
7. If you are going to cook them directly, we will boil them in boiling salty water for 5-6 minutes or 2-3 minutes after they come to the surface of the boiling water. Enjoy later with the sauce we want. If you are going to cook them after a few hours, we should leave them for another 2-3 minutes.
8. I enjoyed the fresh homemade orecchiette pasta with Bolognese Sauce. They turned out super tasty, although tradition requires that this pasta tastes best with Pugliese ragout or broccoli and sausage sauce.

Bon Appetit!

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