Orecchiette Pasta

Description

Orecchiette pasta is a stale dish that hails from the southeaster region of Puglia.

Meaning “little ears” in Italian, the dish is made by flattening the dough and rolling the thumb like a fingerprint into the dough.  Their origin is believed to be in the time when Puglia was under Norman-Swabian rule that is the 8^th and 9^th century. Puglian women have been making orecchiette on large wooden tables in the middle of the street, seated side by side as if in a large open air workshop.  Mastery and speed is key for the preparation of this typical shape of pasta.

The most popular traditional recipe combines orecchiette with cime di rapa (broccoli rabe), a typical vegetable in southern Italy consisting of slender stems and small florets, which are boiled and then sautéed with garlic, oil, anchovies and chili pepper. Orecchiette are also very good topped with tomato sauce with a sprinkle of salted ricotta, with a gravy made from pork chops, with broccoli or with lamb.