The Best Homemade Ricotta Cavatelli Recipe! A delicious, authentic Italian dinner that is easy to make with only 4 ingredients. A must try! Learn how to make the best homemade pasta with this easy recipe!
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Growing up in an Italian family, pasta on Sundays was a staple. My mom or grandparents would always have a pot of sauce filled with meatballs, sausage, and braciola simmering for hours.
We still have Sunday sauce every week (this is the sauce recipe we use!) and it’s still something I look forward to!
It’s a little different depending on what meat we have on hand – sometimes toss these meatballs in, other weeks we opt for bolognese, but no matter what – it’s delicious!
Cavatelli have always been my favorite pasta, and today I’m showing you how to make them at home!
What is Cavatelli?
Cavatelli are a small shell shaped that look similar to a hot dog bun. The pasta is typically made from ricotta, flour, and water. The name comes from the verb ‘cavare’ which means to hollow.
How do you pronounce cavatelli? Cavatelli is pronounced ‘Cah- vah-tell -eee’, or can sometimes be said ‘cah-vah-dels’.
What kind of pasta is cavatelli? Cavatelli are categorized as a ‘shaped pasta’.
These ricotta cavatelli are pillow-y soft and so simple to make. Once you try them – you’ll never want to eat boxed pasta again!
Cavatelli Pasta Ingredients
To make ricotta cavatelli you’ll need:
- whole milk ricotta
- all purpose white flour
- salt
- water
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
We also recommend getting a pasta board/ shaper. They’re less than $9 on amazon and make the process much quicker.
How to Make Ricotta Cavatelli Pasta
- In a bowl mix together flour, salt, ricotta, and water with hands.
- At first the dough may seem sticky, but work the dough squeezing it together for about 2 minutes.
- It will look a bit scraggly, don’t worry!
- After 2 minutes the dough should be relatively formed together – enough that you can make a big ball.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for another 1-2 minutes. This helps the dough to become much smoother.
- Set the dough aside and add more flour to your surface.
7. Knead the dough ball until smooth
8. Take about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a thin strip (about ½ inch thick)
9. Using a scissor or knife cut the strips into small balls (smaller than a dime)
10. Toss the balls with flour and then use the pasta tool or fork to shape (see above for step by step tutorial. We use the pasta block and press firmly with our pointer or thumb, rolling the pasta downward. Be liberal with the flour when rolling/shaping.
11. Place the cavatelli on a floured baking sheet (you can also use parchment paper) as you’re making them – shaking the sheet every few minutes to make sure they’re not sticking to one another Put the cavatelli in the freezer for 1 hour
12. When the cavatelli are frozen, pour them into a mesh strainer. Shake the excess flour off of them.
Store in a ziploc bag or container in the freezer until ready to eat.
When ready to cook – boil for about 4-5 minutes, or until cavatelli float to the top of the pan.
Serve however you like!
Do you need to use a pasta tool?
Technically – no you do not need the pasta tool. You can make the cavatelli with a fork, but they’re much more difficult to make with a fork and do not come out as well.
This pasta board is less than $9 on amazon and ships via Prime!
When you make the ricotta cavatelli with a fork, the dough sometimes gets stuck in the prongs and does not roll off easier. It will take you longer to make. You can see the difference in the images above. The left are the cavatelli made with the pasta board, the right are the ones made with a fork.
The ricotta cavatelli made with a pasta board curl much nicer and have more ridges, which soak up whatever sauce you’re going to toss them with.
How to make ricotta cavatelli with a machine
We do not have a cavatelli machine, but I’m sure you could use this dough in a machine! This machine has fairly good ratings on Amazon. Honestly, I would just recommend buying a block for under $8.
It’s more fun to make by hand! You can also get this two pack of blocks if you have a family and want to make them together!
See how all the ridges soak up the sauce? YUM.
What is ricotta?
Ricotta is a whey cheese. It’s made from the leftover whey from the production of other cheeses. It has a delicious creamy texture and salty flavor.
Is ricotta really cheese? Yes, ricotta is really cheese! It’s made from whey that is leftover when making other cheeses.
Does ricotta taste like cheese? Ricotta does taste like cheese. It tastes like mozzarella. It has a mild, salty flavor and is creamy like a cottage cheese.
Is ricotta cheese the same as cottage cheese? Ricotta and cottage cheese are not the same. Ricotta is made from small curds and very fine, but cottage cheese is often made from larger curds and very lumpy. They are similar in taste though!
Tips for Making this Homemade Cavatelli Recipe
- Adding Water: You may need to add a little more water depending on your ingredients. If your dough is not coming together at all after a minute, add 1 tablespoon at a time until it starts to stick together. DO NOT add more than this at a time, you can always add more water, but once you’ve added it to the bowl you can’t take it away.
- Adding Flour: Conversely, if your dough is super sticky – you can add a little bit more flour. I’d add 1-2 tablespoons at a time.
- Consistency: The dough should almost feel a little thicker/dried than play dough. It shouldn’t be so soft that it turns to mush in your hands, but it also should be pliable enough that you can easily roll it/shape it.
- Use a lot of flour when rolling/shaping. Having the little balls coated thickly in flour will help them to slide down the pasta tool.
- Make sure you freeze the cavatelli before you cook them. If you put them directly in the pot after shaping they will lose their form.
- Make sure to shake off excess flour after you have frozen the cavatelli. If you do not shake off the excess flour you will wind up with gunky/cloudy pasta water.
- Stir frequently when boiling so that they don’t stick together
- Serving: This recipe makes about 2.5 lbs of cavatelli – 4 large servings or 6 smaller servings. It depends on how hungry you are!
Substitutions for homemade cavatelli
This is a family recipe so we’ve only ever made it one way! I can’t speak to how substitutions will work in this recipe.
Salt – Any salt will work. We just happened to have pink himalayan salt in our spice cabinet
Ricotta – Any whole milk ricotta will work. We do not recommend using low fat ricotta.
Gluten Free/Dairy Free – We have not tested this with any other flours or without ricotta. This is a family recipe and we’ve only ever made it one way!
Flour – Some people make their cavatelli with semolina flour. I have never tried this.
Cavatelli Sauce Recipe
This is our favorite tomato sauce recipe! It’s so easy to make. We like to put meatballs and sausage in the sauce and let it cook for 24-48 hours.
You can also make a sauce of olive oil and garlic, serve them with this Healthy Bolognese, Rosemary Chicken Sauce, Healthier Alfredo Sauce or do a version of pasta primavera.
Cavatelli will go with pretty much any sauce you like! You could even use them in this Feta Pasta Recipe!
Storing Cavatelli Pasta
Freezing the cavatelli helps to keep them from sticking together and also helps keep them fresh.
Once you’ve sifted the cavatelli to remove excess flour, freeze them in ziploc bags or a container. They’ll last for 6 months in the freezer.
You cook the cavatelli from frozen, so there is no need to thaw before you cook them.
These cavatelli are worth the extra time it takes to make them. They’re absolutely delicious and simply the best homemade pasta! We hope you love them as much as we do!
Ricotta Cavatelli Pasta Recipe FAQ
Gnocchi are typically potato based, while cavatelli are often ricotta based. Gnocchi are usually soft little ‘pillow like’ dough balls, while ricotta are smaller and usually ridged with a firmer texture
You can buy ricotta cavatelli at most stores or on amazon. Making them homemade is so much better though!
Cavatelli is made from ricotta, flour, salt, and water. It’s a very simple dough that is quick to make!
Cavatelli translates to ‘little hollows’ in Italian. The pasta was given this name because of the little hollows that sauce can set in when served!
Cavatelli are a unique pasta, but they can often be substituted in recipes for gnocchi or any other pasta. Gemilli or orecchiette are a good alternative.
Ricotta Cavatelli Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose white flour plus extra for shaping
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 lb whole milk ricotta
- 2/3 cup water
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together flour, salt, ricotta and water with hands. At first the dough may seem sticky, but work the dough squeezing it together for about 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes the dough should be relatively formed together – enough that you can make a big ball.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for another 1-2 minutes. This helps the dough to become much smoother.
- Set the dough aside and add more flour to your surface.
- Take about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a thin strip (about ½ inch thick)
- Using a scissor or knife cut the strips into small balls (smaller than a dime)
- Toss the balls with flour and then use the pasta tool or fork to shape (see above for step by step tutorial.)
- We use the pasta block and press firmly with our pointer or thumb, rolling the pasta downward. Be liberal with the flour when rolling/shaping!
- Place the cavatelli on a floured baking sheet as you’re making them – shaking the sheet every few minutes to make sure they’re not sticking to one another
- Put the cavatelli on the baking sheet in the freezer for 1 hour.
- When the cavatelli are frozen, pour them into a mesh strainer. Shake the excess flour off of them. *Do not skip this step, if you do you will wind up with gummy pasta water that is not tasty!*
- Store in a ziploc bag or container in the freezer until ready to eat.
- When ready to cook – boil water. Add cavatelli to boiling water and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until cavatelli float to the top of the pan.
- Serve however you like!
alyssa kelliher says
I used this recipe when making homemade pasta for the first time ever and let me tell you, it was amazing! The recipe was simple and the instructions were clear and precise. I always thought making homemade pasta would be insanely hard but this recipe made it easy! I swapped the white flour for whole wheat and it was great. yet another great recipe from the cleaneatingcouple!!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them, Alyssa! Glad the whole wheat flour worked!! We are going to have to try that 🙂
MB says
This recipe is awesome! I made it with my kids and it was a fun activity and they enjoyed the pasta afterward. I used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour due to a gluten allergy in the family, and it was still great!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it Mary Beth! And that it worked with the gluten free flour 🙂 That’s awesome to hear!
Alyse Lamarre says
This was such an easy but very impressive Sunday dinner! My family went nuts over it and couldn’t believe I was able to make a restaurant quality dinner with so few ingredients. This will be a staple recipe in my house for special occasions
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Alyse! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
T says
These are so easy to make and delicious. Served with meatballs and sauce.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much!
Sophie says
Amazing! Best pasta dough recipie I’ve tried. Made the cavatelli which turned out great but used some of the leftover dough to make raviolis and they were so good too. This is going to be my go to pasta dough recipie.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Sophie! Thank you! I need to try making raviolis with it!
Maggie Marino says
Wow! These were so easy, I made them in just under an hour. Hand kneeding can be intimidating, but this was so approachable. I can’t wait to have friends for dinner and impress them.
Rose says
Does the water get added with other ingredients all at once
The Clean Eating Couple says
Yes – in step one. Mix everything together.
Pattihabby says
Hi ! I would like to make a bunch of these and dry them instead of freezing. Do you think these can be dried ?
From the reviews, these are Wonderful ! Can’t wait to try them !
The Clean Eating Couple says
These definitely can’t be dried because of the ricotta. They need to be frozen!
Pattihabby says
Thank You for getting back to me so quickly ! And Thank You for your answer ! :} Have a Great Day !