This Cavatelli With Creamy Tomato Sauce and Stracciatella is Comfort Food at its Finest

Welcome to Put on a Spread, a recipe series that takes you inside the kitchens – and dining rooms – of some of our favourite home cooks. For this instalment, pasta connoisseur Gabriella Simonian of No Regretti Spaghetti shares her recipe for cavatelli with creamy roasted tomato sauce and stracciatella.

Method

For the cavatelli pasta

• On a work surface, add the semolina flour and create a well in the centre. Slowly drizzle in the warm water and whisk until you have a custard-like consistency.
• Switch to a bench scraper and start to flip the flour from the outer edge over and onto the water mix, using a cutting motion to mix it in. Continue to do this around all sides until you have a crumbly, sand-like mix.
• Start bringing the crumbly dough together with your hands, squeezing and coaxing it into a ball of dough that’s kneadable – scraping up and incorporating as much loose flour from your work surface as possible.
• Once you have this shape, begin kneading the dough vigorously for a good 10 minutes until the dough is springy and elastic, and not sticking to your hands at all.
• Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
• Cut off 1/8 of the rested dough (make sure to keep the rest covered while you work), and roll it into a sausage about 1/4 inches thick.
• Cut the sausage into thumbnail-sized pieces, then use your thumb to roll each one away from you to create a small hollow.
• Repeat with the remaining dough following the same process.
• Place the cavatelli on a lightly floured board or plate and cover with a clean, dry tea towel until you’re ready to use.
  
  

For the stracciatella

• Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and add to a bowl.
• Pour over the cream and stir to combine.
• Season to taste with salt, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
  

For the roasted tomato sauce

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Place the tomatoes, chilli, onion and garlic on a baking tray. Drizzle over the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and season generously with salt.
• Roast for 60 minutes, turning the tomatoes occasionally.
• Once cool enough to handle, remove the tomato skins and vine and discard, squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin, then transfer everything to a blender with the cream and blitz until smooth.
• Pour the sauce into a saute pan, add a handful of fresh basil and keep warm on low heat while you bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil for the pasta.
• Cook the cavatelli for 4-6 minutes or until al dente, then transfer directly to the sauce using a slotted spoon so you take some of the pasta water with it.
• Add a handful of grated Parmigiano cheese and the butter and toss to combine.
• Serve with dollops of stracciatella and fresh basil leaves.

For more from Gabriella, follow her at @_noregrettispaghetti

Photographer Rebecca Bennett.