Tutorial: Butternut Squash Caramelle Pasta With XO Sauce & Turmeric Pickle Onion
Caramelle pasta, named after Italian candies for their playful shape, is a joy to make and even better to eat. Here is how to elevate caramelle pasta with 3 different flavor profiles.
Caramelle means candy in Italian, and that’s exactly what they look like: little pasta twists pinched at both ends, filled with something golden and velvety.
What I’m putting inside them is anything but simple. Roasted butternut squash, a slow-built XO sauce, and turmeric pickled onions. Three very different flavor profiles that, together, make something hard to stop eating.
Why Caramelle?
Most people reach for ravioli when they want a stuffed pasta. It’s the obvious choice, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But caramelle offers something ravioli doesn’t: a more textural experience. Those pinched ends create little pockets of thicker dough that cook differently from the center. You get variation in every bite: a slightly chewier wrapper and enough surface area to catch the sauce.
The shape also performs visually. On a plate, caramelle look like a little treat. For a private dining setting, that matters. People eat with their eyes before they ever pick up a fork.
The caramelle shape isn’t complicated to execute, but it requires you to work with a well-rested, well-developed dough. Rush it, and you won’t get clean edges. Take your time with it, and the pasta practically shapes itself.
Watch Full Tutorial Here
