What's in the fridge?

My new pasta obsession: Orecchiette from scratch with @martascooking !!! 👩🏻‍🍳👩🏻‍🍳🇮🇹 🍝Such a highlight of my day and week! This is my first time learning to make this pasta and I got so excited. The dough is naturally vegan and although it takes time to make, it’s a welcome activity in this time.

Orecchiette comes from the Southern Italian region, Puglia. Unlike some popular pastas liek tagliatelle and pappardelle, orecchiette does not contain eggs. It was created somewhere in the 13th century when eggs were not as available to people as now. Orecchiette is also traditionally 100% semolina flour, a coarse, gluteninous flour that makes the pasta havea  great bite and texture. If you don’t have semolina, use a strong flour, like bread flour. If you only have all-purpose you can use it but the texture will be softer and the color whiter. Just, don’t overcook it so you get that “al dente” (to the tooth) or nice firm texture when you bite into it. 

Marta told us that the traditional orecchiette pasta is prepared with sautéed turnip greens in Puglia. She made hers with broccoli and sausage and it looked absolutely delicious in her Tuscan kitchen!

Marta’s recipe is simple and fool-proof! Give it a try and practice your patience. Check out Marta’s Live story to see the video we did today. It was another fun one!! Thank you so much Marta 🤗 she is an amazing Tuscan chef with so much knowledge to share!
.

ORECCHIETTE DOUGH

Per person (double or triple for more people)

• 100g semolina or bread flour
• 45 g water (room temp)
• Pinch of salt

.
Mix all ingredients for 7 minutes well. Knead the ball of dough well. Then let rest 15 minutes at least.  This relaxes the dough so it doesn’t tear when you work with it. Cover in plastic wrap to keep from forming a skin. 

After 15 minutes cut off a small piece of dough and roll into a thin rope. 

Then, cut the rope into ½ inch pieces to roll into balls. 

Using a small serrated knife push down on the dough and pull the knife towards you. Then, flip the little ear out. 

Dry with more semolina sprinkles on top and leave it out 2 hours to dry. Then store in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks. Don’t put it in the fridge.
.
Serve with broccoli and sausage sauce or vegan-eggplant, zucchini, tomato sauce. Enjoy!
.
For the post, follow me on Instagram: @chefjoannas