Ya know how you’re surfing the interwebs and ya click on something and then you follow something else and then you’re someplace completely different from where you started out?!? Me, neither, but I understand it happens to folks from time-to-time…
One thing that did happen to me last week, though, was I was looking at an old copy of La Cucina Italiana and saw a recipe for cavatelli – and decided to buy a cavatelli maker. That, of course, led me to Google which led me to A Best Kitchen – an online restaurant supply house.
I have to tell ya… I’d rather spend all day in a restaurant supply house than a Williams-Sonoma or other retail outlet. Form follows function. I want something that is going to work and last a while – not something that is cute and will break the 2nd time it’s used. My dream kitchen is actually stainless steel with a quarry tile floor – with a drain. Sadly, that’s not going to happen any time soon.
But I digress…
The cavatelli maker arrived in a couple of days and once we knew the storm was coming, decided that today would be the perfect day to try it out. And, it was. Sunshine, blue skies, a chill in the air, and feet of snow awaiting the plow. We had spoken with our neighbor who has a snow service and she said she’d send him down when he did her place. He hasn’t shown. I went down there a couple of hours ago and dug out her front door – she and her sister were actually trapped in the house because both doors were completely blocked in with snow. It’s what neighbors are for. But we still didn’t get our driveway done! It looks like I’ll be hand-digging it out tomorrow. Oh well. I wanted feet of snow and I got feet of snow!
But back to the cavatelli…
We had several recipes to choose from, so Victor went with a ricotta and parmesan version.
The dough is quite easy to make – actually, all fresh pasta dough is pretty easy to make. It’s the rolling and/or forming that takes the talent. I leave it to Victor.
Ricotta and Parmesan Cavatelli
- 4 cups flour
- 1 egg
- 1 lb ricotta
- 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup milk
Sift flour onto a counter or board. Make a well and add the remaining ingredients. Slowly incorporate the liquids with the flour. when everything is mixed in, knead for about 2 minutes. When done, cover and let dough rest for about 10 minutes.
When ready to make the cavaletti, roll the dough to about 3/8″ thickness and cut into 3/4″ strips. Feed into your cavatelli maker, or cut into small pieces and roll on your gnocchi board.
Yes, we have one of those, also. Victor makes an awesome gnocchi.
Cook in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain, and serve with your favorite sauce.
Our favorite sauce is the sauce Victor just made – with Italian sausages and meatballs.
We had it with thick slices of the Walnut Raisin Bread from yesterday.
So we didn’t get the driveway plowed, but we sure as hell ate well – and there’s Pecan Pie for dessert.
I’ll deal with the driveway tomorrow.