Feeling lazy, I pulled some Italian Sausage out of the freezer, this morning. We have Victor’s Pasta Sauce in the pantry, so I thought a simple spaghetti would suffice.

Victor had other plans…

He said he’d brown the sausage and take care of the sauce, so I happily agreed. A while later, he asked if I’d like homemade cavatelli instead of spaghetti.  I could not say “YES!” fast enough!

There really is something special about homemade pasta. Dried is just fine – better, I think, than ‘fresh’ pasta at the grocery store – but homemade?!? Molto Bene!

Since I was planning a lazy dinner, I didn’t have a nice, crusty loaf of bread on hand, but the dinner didn’t need it.

It was perfection on an Italian hand-painted-from-Florence, plate! (LOVE those dishes!)

Cavatelli

• 1 1/8 cup semolina flour
• 3/4 cup Tipo “00” flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Mix flours and salt on board. Make a well and add the water and oil. Slowly mix the liquid into the flour forming a dough. Knead about 5 minutes. Wrap and let rest about 30 minutes to an hour.

Roll pieces of dough into a thin rope and cut into 1/2″ pieces. Press and roll to make little shells.

Cook in salted boiling water. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

This was a higher semolina to 00 flour than Victor usually makes, and he – always critical of his own pastas – thought they were a bit heavy. I thought they were excellent, great flavor, great chew… extremely satisfying.

There were no leftovers.