Generality
The orecchiette are a pasta format typical of Puglia and some Lucan territories (especially of the Matera and the Potentino).
The shape of the orecchiette is discoid, concave on one side and (logically) convex on the other; the center is flattened while the edges appear thicker. The dimensions are variable but the most famous orecchiette have a diameter of about 2cm. The surface is typically rough.
The nutritional intake of orecchiette is not very different from that of the other types of pasta, as they are formulated starting from durum wheat semolina and water, sometimes with the addition of extra virgin olive oil.
The seasoning of orecchiette can be of various kinds, based on foods of animal origin (meat, fishery products, eggs and dairy products) and / or vegetable (vegetables, tubers, mushrooms, legumes), both typical of both the warm months and of cold ones.
Background
The history of orecchiette is not entirely clear.
Some argue that this is not an original recipe of our peninsula and lead back to the Provencal territories of France. According to this theory, the archaic form of the orecchiette reached the south-eastern coasts of the Bel Paese in the 13th century AD, aboard large merchant ships; these were used for the supplies of the noble families of the Angiò county who, between 1200 and 1300, ruled much of southern Italy.
The term "orecchiette" should have been coined by the Angevins, but the influence of the Jewish population residing in the continental areas of Southern Italy cannot be excluded.
Orecchiette with ...
Associating orecchiette exclusively with the famous recipe with "le cime di rapa", if on the one hand it does justice to a great tradition, on the other it is extremely reductive!
Homemade Orecchiette
X Problems with video playback? Reload from YouTube Go to Video Page Go to Video Recipes Section Watch the video on youtubeFirst of all, there is NOT one type of orecchiette. Those called "recchie", "chianchiarelle" or "stacchiodi" are to be considered the "classic" type, that is the best known; however, worthy exponents of the category are also the "strascinati" or "cavatelli", larger, more flat (often elongated) and typically seasoned with tomato sauce. The type of orecchiette that differs from those mentioned above is known as "ears of a priest", which is also larger, but based on soft wheat flour.
In addition to the classic one with turnip greens, the classic accompanying sauces for orecchiette are: with broccoli, with tomato sauce, with rabbit sauce and with sheep ricotta (dried).
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Nutritional values (per 100 g of edible portion)
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Other extremely delicious recipes, but less known to the extra-regional population, are: orecchiette pasta with horse ragù, orecchiette with scampi, orecchiette with tuna, giant strascinati au gratin, orecchiette with braciole, orecchiette with sauce and meatballs, orecchiette alla lucana etc. .
NB . The cooking times of the orecchiette vary significantly between those dry, fresh and frozen. The dry ones are the most tenacious, while the fresh ones are very quick to cook.
Production
Describing the production of orecchiette is absolutely not an easy task, since, in addition to the method's explanation, it would also be necessary to "visually" show the system; however, below I will only specify the most important passages briefly summarizing the traditional pasta recipe.
We proceed by making a dough based on durum wheat flour (although it is very difficult to work by hand), water, oil and salt; the proportions are 250g of flour, 130g of water, a tablespoon of oil and salt to taste
After having mixed it and let it rest, cut the dough into pieces to make salamelli; these will then be cut into "gnocchetti" to be crushed with a round-tipped knife on a well floured pastry board. At this point, with the fingertips of the index and thumb fingers, they are shaped like an orecchietta.
The orecchiette can therefore be dried and packaged, even if they do not have the same shelf life of the packaged pasta (for the lower effectiveness of the procedure); alternatively, they lend themselves very well to freezing, as long as you remember to keep them well separated and NOT stacked together.
Nutritional Features
The orecchiette are foods with different nutritional intake between the dry and the fresh or frozen form; they have a caloric prevalence of carbohydrates, while proteins and lipids are much less effective. The fiber is not very present but it is not irrelevant.
Among the mineral salts and vitamins there is a good content of iron and vit. PP (niacin).
Orecchiette are NOT a food to be consumed with frivolity in case of: type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia and overweight; in fact, these conditions require reduced portions and a moderate consumption frequency. For all the others, the average portion of the dried ones is about 80-90g, while for the fresh ones it corresponds to about 160-180g (290-330kcal).
