Cecamariti pasta is intimidating, I will admit. Even pronouncing it is something that scared me off. However, I was able to overcome my fear, and so will you.
Cecare is a form of the verb accecare, which means blind and mariti is the plural of the word for husband. This means the pasta literally translates to blind husbands. There are many reasons why this pasta is named this, but I tend to believe it is because it is so good, and you will eat it so fast, that you don’t even see it.
In researching how to make this pasta, I found that there were two methods for it. One creates a pasta that is a little more flavorful and works better with lighter sauces. The other doesn’t have as much flavor and holds more flavorful sauces. You can match them as you like.
Cecamariti Recipe Using Sourdough
The first recipe uses sourdough starter and pairs extremely well with sauces that are light and don’t really have all that much flavor. It also tends to be a little bit easier to work with, so you should start here if you are a beginner.
Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients:
- 1-ounce Sourdough Starter
- 2 Ounces Water At Room Temperature
- 2 Ounces Flour All-purpose Flour
- Ingredients For The Pasta Dough
- 5 Ounces Prepared Sourdough Starter
- 5-ounce Water At Room Temperature
- ½ Ounce Stone-ground Whole-wheat Flour
- 5 Ounces Flour All-purpose Flour (For The Pasta)
- ½ G Sea Salt
Steps:
- Make your sourdough starter the night before you make your pasta. Follow the directions of your favorite starter.
- Allow the starter to ferment in a draft-free place.
- The next day, weigh your starter to ensure you have enough and then add the water. You should stir to loosen the starter.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl to make a dough. Allow it to rest for about 10 minutes.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured bowl. The dough should be extremely smooth.
- Lightly dust a bit of flour on your working surface.
- Clean your bowl. Then letter fold the dough and place it into the bowl.
- Cover and place in a draft-free area. Allow it to sit for several hours.
Follow the directions for forming the dough in the section after the yeast method.
Cecamariti Recipe Using Yeast
Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients:
- ½ Teaspoon Instant Yeast
- 2 Ounces Water At Room Temperature
- ½ Ounce Stone-ground Whole-wheat Flour
- 3 Ounces All-purpose Flour
- ½ G Sea Salt
Steps:
- Weigh the yeast and water in a small bowl. Whisk only slightly so that it combines.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to make a dough. Cover the bowl and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Empty the bowl onto a lightly floured kneading board. Knead the dough until it is smooth. You may need to keep reapplying flour to the board as this will pick it up.
- Clean your bowl. Then letter fold the dough and place it into the bowl.
- Cover and place in a draft-free area. Allow it to sit for at least 1.5 hours.
Follow the directions for forming the dough in the next section.
How To Form Your Dough
You can use this folding technique with both types of dough.
Your dough will be ready when you make a dimple in the dough and it stays in place. It is imperative that you wait until this happens so that you get the strongest possible cecamariti.
Lightly flour your working surface and the surface where you will put your pasta once it is formed. This pasta is extremely delicate, so you will need to be as careful as possible. Minimize your movement with them, if possible. I tend to stand at a corner in my kitchen and swivel at the waist to move them.
- Start by working on rolling the dough into a thick, salami-like roll. Cut it into two pieces and put one back in the bowl and cover it. Do not allow your pasta to dry out and try to limit exposure to flour.
- Roll each piece into a long, thin snake that is about ½ inch thick. Cut it into ½ pieces. You will need to reroll your sections because the dough will shrink. It is more likely to shrink if you used the sourdough method, so be vigilant. You want your pasta to be as symmetrical as possible.
- Place a small piece of the dough under your index and middle finger. Roll them so that you have a cylinder. Taper the ends so they get extremely thin. You should get a cecamariti that is about 2-3 inches long.
- Transfer your pasta to the floured board. Do not allow your pasta to touch or they will stick to each other.
- Repeat until you have used up all of your dough.
How To Cook The Cecamariti
Cooking your cecamariti isn’t difficult at all, but you do need to be prepared to move fast. Clear your kids and pets out of the kitchen, if you can.
- Start by bringing a small pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Add some coarse salt to the pot of boiling water and stir.
- Gently, but quickly, put in your cecamariti pasta. Be prepared to work fast.
- Your pasta will puff and float as it cooks. After one minute, check for doneness.
- Drain the pasta using a slotted spoon and drop it into your sauce.
As mentioned, you can use many different types of sauce for this pasta. It is a puffy and light pasta, so it does pair well with good, robust sauces. It is also really good with just some butter, garlic, and fresh cheese.
Don’t be intimidated by this pasta. While it looks fancy and difficult to form, it really isn’t. If you want to perfect it, I recommend getting yourself some clay or play dough and practice the movements.
You don’t want to touch the actual pasta dough all that long, because of how delicate it is, so it is best to get the movement down before you start.
Have you tried cecamariti pasta yet?
