De Cecco Orecchiette

TAST­ING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

Pop­u­lar since the 13^th cen­tu­ry, orec­chi­ette has a thin­ner dome cen­ter that curves into thick­er rims, giv­ing it a unique­ly soft cen­ter and chewier tex­ture around the edges. Made with durum wheat semoli­na and fresh spring water, De Cec­co Orec­chi­ette suc­ceeds in cre­at­ing an organ­ic pas­ta with a firm, al-dente bite and sig­na­ture rough­ness that hearti­ly holds pas­ta sauces of any kind. 

PREPA­RA­TION

A ver­sa­tile pas­ta, this small, dim­pled noo­dle cra­dles small veg­eta­bles or thick, chunky sauces well due to its unique shape. But a pas­ta as rich in his­to­ry as orec­chi­ette has a home­town in Italy, the place where it was invent­ed, pre­pared with ingre­di­ents that grew abun­dant in the area. 

In the case of orec­chi­ette, its sto­ry belongs to the city of Puglia, known also as the largest pro­duc­ers of olive oil in Italy. Tra­di­tion­al­ly served with broc­coli rabe, boil the pas­ta for 8 to 10 min­utes until al dente, toss with sauteed broc­coli rabe (or bro­colli­ni if broc­coli rabe is not avail­able), and gar­nish with a gen­er­ous driz­zle of extra vir­gin olive oil, pep­per, and parmi­giano reggiano.

Storage Instructions

Store dry, uncooked pas­ta in a cool, dry pantry for up to one year. Pre­serve fresh­ness by stor­ing dry pas­ta in an air-tight box or con­tain­er. Store plain (no sauce or oth­er ingre­di­ents) cooked pas­ta in a con­tain­er or plas­tic seal­able bag in the refrig­er­a­tor for up to five days and up to three months in the freezer.