Cavatelli

Cavatelli are small elongated pieces of pasta with a hollow, made from durum wheat semolina and water. Campania describes them as a hand-made fresh pasta in four sizes, from one to four fingers, Italy's national list of traditional foods records them under Molise and Puglia, and brands such as Divella and Granoro sell them dry. ¹²³⁴

How they are shaped. Re-milled semolina and water are kneaded on a wooden table for 5–10 minutes until very soft, rolled out with a wooden pin and cut into long thin strips. ¹ Each strip is rolled by hand into a cord and cut into pieces of one to four centimetres, and each piece is hollowed out with the fingers on the table. ¹ The cavatelli then dry on the table or in dryers. ¹

Four sizes, two uses. Campania names four formats, one-, two-, three- and four-finger cavatelli, after the fingers that hollow each piece. ¹ The one- and two-finger sizes are widely used in soups, while the larger ones are preferred with ragù. ¹ The pasta is pale yellow to ochre with a firm, elastic bite, and ancient grains such as Senatore Cappelli, Risciola and Gentil rosso are also used. ¹

A pasta of several regions. The national list of traditional food products of 14 July 2017 records «Cavatelli o Cecatelli (Cavatielli)» under Molise and «Cavatelli» under Puglia. ² Lazio lists its own «Cavatello vitorchianese» with wild fennel. ² Rustichella d'Abruzzo says the shape comes from Molise and is widespread across southern Italy. ⁵

Dry cavatelli from the shop. Divella's no. 44 is a small hollow shape that, in its words, gathers sauce inside; it cooks in 10 minutes and comes in 500 g packs. ³ Granoro's no. 87 is made only from Puglia-grown semolina in a certified supply chain and cooks in 9 minutes. ⁴ In Italy, dry durum wheat pasta may contain only semolina and water, dried to at most 12.5% moisture. ⁶

Sauces. Rustichella says tradition pairs cavatelli with a meat ragù or with broccoli and sausage, and also suggests porcini or Bolognese sauce. ⁵ Divella cooks them with fried aubergine, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and pecorino, or simply with chickpeas and courgettes. ⁹¹⁰ In each case the hollow is what catches the sauce. ³

Nutrition and allergens. Divella gives 355 kcal per 100 g of dry cavatelli, with 73 g of carbohydrate, 13 g of protein and 1.7 g of fat. ³ Cavatelli contain wheat, a gluten cereal that EU labels must highlight, and Divella and Granoro warn of possible traces of soy and mustard. ⁷³⁴ The Campania recipe uses only semolina and water, with no egg. ¹

Cavatelli or malloreddus. Sardinia's traditional-product sheet describes malloreddus as short dry pasta of durum semolina, water and sometimes pure saffron, shaped as a small hollow stick with parallel ridges on its back. ⁸ The ridges come from rolling each piece over the bottom of a basket, and the sheet links malloreddus above all to the Campidano. ⁸ Cavatelli, by contrast, are hollowed out with the fingers on a wooden table. ¹

Why it matters to you. Choose small cavatelli for soups and larger ones for ragù, as Campania tradition does. ¹ Cook dry cavatelli by the pack: 9 minutes for Granoro, 10 for Divella. ⁴³ Check the label for wheat and for may-contain warnings such as soy or mustard. ⁷³