Ricotta Cavatelli

Before you begin, drain excess liquid off the ricotta cheese. You may need to drain the ricotta cheese for anything from one to four hours.

To do this, line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth or paper towels.

Set the strainer over a bowl, making sure that the bottom of the straining as at least 1 inch (2.5cm) above the bottom of the bowl.

Spoon the ricotta cheese into the lined strainer.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the cheese is crumbly and has released most of the liquid.

Combine ricotta and egg in a large bowl.

Add flour and salt then stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula to combine, drizzling in the water until the dough comes together.

If the pasta dough is too wet, knead in a little more flour. If the pasta dough is too dry, drizzle in a little more water.

Knead it to form a soft dough. Don't over knead the dough. Just knead until the dough comes together and is well combined. It doesn't need to be smooth like bread dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes

In the meantime, line two large baking sheets with non stick baking paper and dust with fine semolina or flour.

After 30 minutes, take a small portion of dough and rewrap the remaining dough.

Roll the dough into long rope about ½ inch (or approx 1cm) in diameter. It may be easier to cut it in half and keep rolling to achieve this thickness. Cut the rope into ¾-1 inch (2-2.5cm) lengths. Try not to flour the work surface or it will be too hard to roll the dough.

Use a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork to shape the ricotta cavatelli. Use two fingers to press firmly onto each piece of dough and drag towards you creating a curl and an indentation. Use a little dusting of flour or fine semolina if the dough is sticking. Place ricotta cavatelli on the prepared baking sheets in a single layer and not touching.

Continue forming the cavatelli until all the dough is used.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add a couple of tablespoons of salt to the boiling water.

Cook in batches in large pot of salted boiling water until pasta rises to the top.

As the pasta rises, scoop out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large serving bowl, mixing in spoonfuls of your favorite pasta sauce.