5 More Shapes for Your Gnocchi Board

If you've only tried making gnocchi or cavatelli on your gnocchi board, you've only scratched the surface of what this little ridged board can do. The same board, the same basic dough, and a few small changes in technique open up a whole range of shapes — from beginner-friendly to a bit more advanced. Here are five more to add to your rotation.

Ingredients

• Semolina pasta dough

Tools

• Gnocchi board

• Dough scraper

• Wooden dowel or brass ferretti (for caserecce and garganelli)

Capunti

Roll your dough into a long, thin snake and cut it into 2cm pieces. Press each piece onto the gnocchi board with three fingertips, pulling toward you in one motion — the dough will curl into a small, open shape with ridges on the outside. It's very close to cavatelli in technique, just pressed rather than dragged, which gives it a slightly more elongated shape. Capunti are one of the chunkier pasta shapes, so they pair beautifully with a strongly flavored sauce.

Caserecce

Roll your dough out to about 3mm thick and cut it into small rectangles, roughly the size of your pinky finger. Place each rectangle between two thin wooden dowels or brass ferretti, then roll it forward across the board. The dough curls into caserecce's signature double-S shape as it goes. This one takes a little more practice than capunti, but the motion becomes intuitive quickly.

Rigatoni

Cut small squares of dough, then roll each one diagonally across the board around a thin dowel. Rolling on the diagonal (rather than straight across) gives more pronounced, angled ridges — ideal for holding onto a hearty sauce. This is one of the most popular shapes to make on a gnocchi board, and a great next step once cavatelli feels easy.

Garganelli

Sheet your dough to a slightly thicker setting than usual and cut it into squares. Place each square diagonally on the board and roll it around a wooden dowel, the same motion as rigatoni. For a fun variation, try blending chives or another soft herb into your dough water before mixing — the herb flecks stretch into a striped pattern as the dough rolls.

Spizzulus

Roll your dough into a snake and cut it into small pieces, then twist and roll each piece across the board using your palm rather than your fingertips. Spizzulus are quick to shape once you get the rhythm down, and their chunky, twisted shape makes them especially good with pesto or another clingy sauce.

A note on color

All five of these shapes take well to colored dough — a spoonful of cocoa powder gives a deep brown color without adding sweetness, while beetroot or spinach purée works if you want to swap out some of the water in your base recipe. Have fun experimenting once you're comfortable with the base technique.

Cooking

As with cavatelli, boil in generously salted water for 3–5 minutes depending on thickness, and check for doneness by cutting one open — if you still see dry, lighter-colored dough in the center, it needs another minute.

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