Orecchiette —“little ears”—are the traditional pasta in the southern Italian region of Apulia. There are a number of good commercial brands available; just check cooking times, since they vary from brand to brand.

A few years ago in Lecce, I watched three women make hundreds of orecchiette at a table set up in a sun-flooded piazza. I was amazed at the speed with which their hands flew back and forth, rolling and shaping the dough to form the dainty little cup-shaped pasta that holds sauce so well. They smiled shyly at their own dexterity as they repeated a centuries-old tradition of pasta making.

In Apulia, they follow the method used here of cooking the greens along with the pasta. Turnip tops, arugula, dandelion greens or any slightly bitter green may be substituted for rapini.