Homemade Orecchiette with Roasted Garlic Puttanesca (Pasta alla Puttanesca)

For the orecchiette:

l. Combine water and salt in small bowl. Stir until salt is dissolved.
2. Add water into the bowl of a stand mixer.
3. With the mixer on medium speed, add semolina flour to the water in a slow, steady stream. This step is important, it makes a difference in the smoothness and texture of your pasta!
4. Mix on medium until dough comes together and is firm, about 2 minutes.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
6. Cut the dough into 5 equal pieces.
7. Cover the dough with a bowl that is turned upside down and let it rest for 30 minutes.
8. Remove one piece of dough from under the bowl (leave the remaining dough under the bowl), and roll it into a rope about 14 inches long and about 3/4″ thick. Cut the rope into 1/4″ slices. With a lightly floured thumb (I used the semolina flour), press down and twist away on each piece of dough, forming the little ear shape. Place pasta on a clean dish towel (not terrycloth) lined baking sheet that is lightly dusted with semolina flour. Continue with remaining pieces of dough.
9. Let dough air dry for 30 minutes. Cook immediately (instructions below), or leave pasta on the towel-lined baking sheet, cover with another clean dish towel (not terry cloth), wrap with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator until the next day.

For the puttanesca sauce:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Put a large pot of water onto the stovetop and bring to a boil.
2. Place the tomato wedges in a baking pan and drizzle with some olive oil, some chopped fresh basil and 1 clove thinly sliced garlic. To the same pan, add the whole head of garlic (remove the outer paper skins and cut off about 1/4″ from the top) and drizzle with olive oil as well.
3. Bake tomatoes and garlic for 20-25 minutes, until soft, shrunken, but still moist. Remove tomatoes from the pan.
4. Continue to bake the head of garlic for an additional 20-30 minutes until golden and very soft. Remove it from the oven and cool.
5. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. Add anchovy paste and the roasted head of garlic to the pan (an easy way to do this is to hold the head of garlic upside down and gently squeeze the cloves out of the skin—the garlic should slide right out). Cook a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the chopped tomatoes, the roasted tomatoes, olives, and capers. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the parsley and basil, and simmer for about 5 minutes more.
6. Right after adding the basil and parsley into your skillet, cook pasta in the boiling water for 6 minutes.
7. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water. Add pasta to the pan of puttanesca sauce, along with 1/4 cup of pasta water. Stir gently for 2 minutes, so that the sauce coats the pasta and the pasta gets a silky-looking sheen. Add more pasta water if pasta seems dry.
8. Serve with Parmesan cheese and enjoy! Buon appetito!

Pasta recipe adapted from Epicurious; sauce recipe adapted from Bell’ Alimento.