Orecchiette

Description

An orecchietta has the shape of a small dome, with its center thinner than its edge, and with a rough surface. Like other types of pasta, orecchiette are made with durum wheat and water. Eggs are rarely used. In traditional southern Italian home cooking, the dough is rolled, then cut into cubes. Each cube is pressed with a knife, dragging it on the board and making it curl (making a cavatello). The shape is then inverted over the thumb.

Individual orecchietta measure approximately an inch (2.5 cm) in width.

Names and variations

Orecchiette (; : orecchietta; from Italian orecchia, , and -etta).

In the vernacular of Taranto they are called recchietedde, or chiancaredde.

In Cisternino orecchiette are made with durum wheat; they are larger and take on a different shape, with deep internal ribs, very similar to an ear. They are defined recchie d' privte (). The typical dish of holidays is orecchiette with rabbit ragù.

Cavatelli, strascinati (strascinate in the vernacular of Bari) and cencioni are made like orecchiette, without the final step of forming a concave shape. Strascinati and cencioni are typically larger than orecchiette.

Dishes

Orecchiette are typically served with a meat such as pork, capers and a crisp white wine. In southern Italy, they are mostly served with vegetables.

The traditional dish from Apulia is orecchiette alle cime di rapa, a dish of orecchiette and rapini, which is the most popular vegetable to serve orecchiette with in southern Italy. Broccoli or cauliflower are also widely used as an alternative. Particularly around Capitanata and Salento, orecchiette are traditionally also dressed with tomato sauce (al sugo), sometimes with miniature meatballs or a sprinkling of ricotta or ricotta forte.

The Italian cookbook Il cucchiaio d'argento (The Silver Spoon) suggests that orecchiette are ideal for vegetable sauces.

Production

This particular pasta shape may have originated in the region of Apulia. The city of Avellino, Apulia, is a significant producer.

In the old town of Bari, Apulia, grandmothers make orecchiette by hand with family members and sell them to members of the public in the streets outside their homes. The imagery of this production and sale has been popular internationally, where it has appealed to popular stereotypes of southern Italy. As a result, the area and has received substantial attention from tourists. As of 2019, sale was not permitted to restaurants or other businesses. A police raid in August 2025, in response to allegations that factory-made orecchiette was being passed off as hand-made, found pasta-making machines in some houses. Three women were convicted of fraudulent trading.

References

Sources

References

1. Florence Knight. "Florence Knight's recipe for orecchiette, pork, capers and white wine". [[The Times]].
2. Schwartz, Arthur. (1998). "Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania". [[HarperCollins]].
3. D'Onofrio, Clelia. (2005). "Il cucchiaio d'argento". Cucchiaio d'argento Domus.
4. (2005). "The Silver Spoon". Phaidon Press.
5. Horowitz, Jason. (2019-12-07). "Call It a Crime of Pasta". The New York Times.
6. (27 September 2025). "Barricades in Bari: why the city’s ‘pasta grannies’ are under scrutiny". The Guardian.