Orecchiette are one of the classic pasta shapes from Puglia, and though they were rare elsewhere when I moved to Italy in 1982, they have by now become commonplace. The name, orecchiette, means little ears because they resemble the human ear in shape. They are especially renowned as being an accompaniment for broccoli rabe, but do nicely with other things too, for example black olives. To serve 4 you'll need:

See Also

An illustrated version of this recipe

About orecchiette: Making them and other sauces for them