A gluten-free variation of the well-known “little ear” pasta from the Puglia area of Italy is made using rice semolina. They hold up to being boiled, mixed with sauces, or fried in the well-known broccoli rabe dish “orecchiette con le cime di rapa” without the need for eggs or gum binders. Your favorite tomato sauce pools inside the indentations of their form, giving you enough of sauce in every bite.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup warm water, or more as needed
- 7 ounces rice semolina, or more as needed
Instructions
- Dissolve salt in warm water in a bowl. Place semolina flour into a separate bowl and add salted water. Mix together until dough becomes a ball you can work with, adding more flour or warm water as needed; mixture should be slightly wet, barely sticking to your hands.
- Knead dough until slightly more stiff. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and separate into 4 pieces. Use a small amount of semolina flour to dust your work table and work each piece of dough into a cylinder or snake shape. Dust your hands lightly with flour and pinch off a 1-inch piece of dough; make a dent using your thumb while rolling it away from you. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Let pasta sit for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil; place pasta into the boiling water and cook until pasta floats to the top, making sure not to stir, about 8 minutes. Scoop out cooked pasta using a slotted spoon from the water and transfer to a plate.
- Do not use a colander to drain the pasta, make sure to use a slotted spoon.