Cilento Cortecce – Italian Homemade Pasta
Ready in
1h 15 min
Preparation
60 min
Cooking
15 min
Portions
5 Person
Cost
chip
difficulty
easy
Italian fresh pasta
Cortecce Homemade pasta from Cilento
Cortecce of Cilento is a type of homemade pasta made from durum wheat semolina and water. It has a short and wrinkled format, which resembles a carpentry swirl of which it takes its name.
It is also called four fingers because being a stick of approximately eight centimeters, four fingers are required to get it. The Cilento’s cortecce are a mixture between a fusillo and a gnocchi, in fact, a legend tells that, a woman had made the dough for the fusilli and had also broken them, that is, she had made the sticks but, at the time of getting them, she did not find the Ferretto, however, did not lose heart and took them out with her fingers, thus giving life to another form of pasta.
The Cilento’s cortecce are typically Salerno and are widely used in catering throughout the Cilento coast, where blue fish abounds but also in the Cilento land where it abounds with game and pig breeding, creating excellent italian ragu and sauces based on fish, in fact, the cortecce being a wrinkled and pulpy pasta, the need for rich seasonings to be enjoyed to the fullest.
But not for this we can exclude this delicacy from the palate of our friends of vegan and vegetarian ideology, just make a generous tomato sauce enriched with basil and seasonal vegetables and the dish is ready.
Ingredients
- 500g re-milled semolina flour
- 2 eggs
- 230ml room temperature water
Follow Us
Directions
Pour the semolina flour on a pastry board or in a large bowl and making the classic fountain*
At the center of the fountain, pour half of the water and begin to knead and gradually add all the water. If you want a tastier dough you can add before starting to knead 2 eggs
Knead the dough vigorously for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and compact
We form a loaf and wrap it in a slightly damp cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes in the fridge
After the rest time, cut the pasta into small pieces
Roll out the dough as if they were breadsticks, from the maximum circumference of a little finger and always sprinkle with semolina to prevent them from sticking
Cut the dough sticks into 6 cm pieces, exaggeratedly like an index finger and always sprinkle with flour
With your fingertips, except your thumb, pull out the pieces of pasta with force, spinning them on themselves, as you get them put them on a tray and always sprinkle with semolina flour
Boil the bark in abundant salted water for 15 minutes or cook to your liking. Drain and season
Tips
- The flours are not all the same, therefore, when you knead, adjust with water, the dough should not be too hard or even less soft.
- The flour must be strictly semolina.
- Do not leave the pasta uncovered otherwise it will dry out.
- *the fountain is the hole made in the flour so as not to let the liquid ingredients come out.
Storage
- After cooking, the bark can be kept in the fridge for a day.
- The raw bark can be kept in the freezer for a few months, taking care to freeze them lying on a tray and then put them in the bags. Do not defrost them before cooking them otherwise they will stick.
Equipments
- Pastry Board
- Large bowl
- Knife
- Pot
- Colander
- Skimmer
- Tray
- Cooker
