Not another cooking show is where we got the recipe from so please visit his website for more info.
Equipment
Semolina Flour
Ingredients
440grams3 1/2 Cups Semolina Flour
260grams2 1/16 cup Warm Water
Instructions
Build a well of flour on the table and pour the water into the center. Using a fork, slowly stir in the water while using the fork to slowly incorporate the flour.
Work it until it reaches the consistency of thick pancake batter. Then use a bench scraper and start to fold and cut in the flour until the mixture comes together and forms a ball. Or you can use your hands, whatever works.
Then begin to knead the dough. If it is sticky, add in flour a little bit at a time, just until it's no longer sticky. Don't add too much flour, that can make the dough dry. Knead for 5-10 minutes, folding and rolling the dough into itself. Then cover in plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter for 15 minutes. This allows the dough to continue to hydrate and soften.
After the 15 minutes are up, knead the dough again for about 5-10 more minutes. Then it should be softer and much easier to knead at this point. Then again wrap in plastic . If you want to use right away, let it rest at room temp until you’re ready to use.
If you don't want to use right away, rest in the fridge overnight. But you don't have to do this step. (Be sure to pull the dough out about 1 hour before you want to make pasta.) The pasta needs to be at room temperature before cooking.
Forming the Cavatelli:
Get the dough out of the plastic and cut off about 1/4 of the dough.
Wrap the rest up so it doesn't dry out. Roll that piece of dough out with the palm of your hands into a long 1/2-inch thick rope. The thickness of the dough matters. It will be super chewy if it's too thick.
Fold the rope in half and then fold it again, this way you have 4 equal strips.
You want to roll each piece independently. This can be a very zen process.
Cavatelli can be in several sizes. You can use 1 finger, 2 fingers, or 3 fingers to measure and roll out the Cavatelli.
Measure the pieces with your fingers and cut the dough. Repeat this process with all of the dough.
Press down gently, with even pressure, then roll back towards you. This creates a really nice, evenly formed Cavatelli. Its very helpful to watch the video at this point as you try to form the noodles. Then get them into a ziplock bag with some semolina flour to ensure they don’t stick. Then they are ready to cook.
Start water boiling in a large pot, add a couple of teaspoons of salt.
When the water comes to a rolling boil, add pasta, and cook until the noodles float to the surface. They are ready to serve with whatever sauce or dish you want.
Notes
I think when we made this was very thick and needed to be thinned out a little bit more it was slightly chewy.