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Cavatelli con sugo di ventricina – cavatelli with Molisani salami sauce
Cavatelli is a fantastic starting point if you're making your own pasta for the first time – the eggless pasta dough is easy to make, and the little hollows are easy to shape. Molisani love to eat cavatelli with a rich ragù of Ventricina Vastese salami and sausage meat.
To begin, make the pasta dough. Place the semolina flour in a bowl and slowly stir in the water. As it starts to come together, pour out onto a floured surface and knead with with your hands for 5–6 minutes or until you have a smooth elastic dough. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest for 1 hour
2
To make the ragù, add the fennel seeds and ventricina to a pan and cook out until the bright red oils start to be released. Add the sausage meat to the pan and cook until golden
3
Once browned, add the onion, celery and garlic and stir until softened
4
Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan and leave to simmer for 20–30 minutes, or until the ragù has thickened slightly
5
When the pasta dough has rested, start making the cavatelli. Cut off a slice of the dough and roll into a thin sausage, about 0.6cm in diameter. Then cut into 1cm long pieces
6
Using your thumb, press down and roll the pasta towards you, creating the curled shape. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough, storing the finished cavatelli shapes on a tray of semolina flour to stop them sticking
7
Cook the cavatelli in heavily salted boiling water for 3–5 minutes then drain and stir through the ragù. Serve with Parmesan