Bari, Puglia — the cup-shaped pasta is documented in Puglian sources from at least the 16th century. The Arco Basso in the old city of Bari is where traditional orecchiette makers still shape pasta daily on small wooden boards in the street.
Orecchiette (little ears) are the signature pasta of Puglia, made from semolina and water only — shaped by dragging a small piece of dough across a wooden board with a rounded knife to create the characteristic cup shape. The cupped shape is functional: it holds the rough, bitter sauce of blanched cime di rapa (turnip greens, technically rapini) sautéed with olive oil, garlic, and anchovies. The pasta's cup catches and holds the sauce; the anchovies dissolve into the oil and season the greens without announcing themselves.
The semolina pasta has a slight graininess and chew that egg pasta lacks — it provides a more substantial mouthfeel for a robust sauce. The bitter cime di rapa anchored by the dissolved anchovy and olive oil is a complete flavour system: bitter, saline, slightly sweet from the garlic. The pasta cup holds a concentration of sauce in each piece.
The dough: semolina rimacinata (re-milled durum) and warm water, ratio approximately 3:1 by weight. Knead for 10 minutes — the dough should be stiff and smooth. The shaping technique: roll a small rope of dough, cut into 1cm pieces, place a piece on the board, apply the flat of a rounded butter knife or the back of a table knife, and drag toward you with slight pressure — the dough curls around the knife edge and, when flicked off the knife, forms a cup. The inside (where the knife touched) is smooth; the outside has the rough board texture. Cook fresh, 4-5 minutes. The sauce: blanch cime di rapa in the pasta water, sauté with garlic and anchovy in olive oil until the greens are tender, toss with orecchiette and a splash of pasta water.
The correct knife for orecchiette is specifically a rounded-tip knife (not a pointed chef's knife) — the rounding creates the cupped shape. Traditionalists in Bari use a special wood-handled palette knife. Watch video of the women of Bari's Arco Basso shaping orecchiette before attempting it — the wrist motion is distinctive and not intuitive. The dough should be rested 30 minutes before shaping.
Using plain flour instead of semolina — egg pasta dough is too soft to hold the shape during the dragging motion. Not enough pressure when dragging — the dough folds rather than cups. Cooking cime di rapa before blanching in pasta water — the pasta water bitterness is part of the dish's flavour profile. Skipping the anchovy — it is the umami backbone of the sauce, not optional.
Oretta Zanini de Vita, Encyclopedia of Pasta; Slow Food Editore, Puglia in Cucina