Lucia’s raschiatelli with salami and horseradish

Raschiatelli, also known as cavatelli, are made from an eggless dough rolled into little shells. Here, they're served with chunks of salami, tomato and a fresh kick of horseradish.

Lucia’s raschiatelli with salami and horseradish Credit: Pasta Grannies by Hardie Grant

• serves

  4

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

This recipe is by home cook Lucia's for the book, Pasta Grannies, edited by Vicky Bennison.

Ingredients

Pasta

• ½ tsp salt
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) tepid water
• 400 g (14 oz/3⅓ cups) finely ground semolina flour

Salami sauce

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 x 400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
• salt
• 350 g (12 oz) salami, diced (eg. lucanica, capocollo or finocchietto)

To serve

• 2 tbsp freshly grated horseradish (or to taste)
• grated pecorino

Instructions

1. To make the pasta, dissolve the salt in the water then mix together with the flour. Knead for five minutes to form a dough that is silky and not sticky to the touch. It won’t have the soft pillowy feel of egg-based pasta dough, but it will feel nice and plastic – and you can use it immediately, there’s no need to leave it to rest. If you knead the dough for longer, it will develop some elasticity and then you will have to let it rest for 20 minutes or so.

2. Lucia makes three-fingered raschiatelli for this dish. To do this, cut off a lump of dough and roll it out to around the thickness of your forefinger (unless it's very large). Slice it into lengths which approximate to your middle three digits. Press down with those fingers into a piece of dough and pull it towards you to make a concave, mini-trough of pasta. Repeat these steps until you've used up all your dough.

3. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a medium saucepan and add the garlic clove. Let it sizzle for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Season with a little salt and let everything simmer for about 10 minutes to make a thickish sauce before adding the diced salami. Continue cooking the sauce to warm the salami through – it doesn't need lots of cooking. Remove the garlic clove.

4. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Once the raschiatelli have bobbed to the surface, nibble one to test for doneness and cook for a little longer, if necessary.

5. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve the raschiatelli with a scattering of both horseradish and cheese.

Recipe from Pasta Grannies by Vicky Bennison (Hardie Grant, RRP $39.99)

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

This recipe is by home cook Lucia's for the book, Pasta Grannies, edited by Vicky Bennison.