I had been looking for a while for some whole grain orecchiette like we had ages ago when we traveled in Italy. The orecchiette pictured above is the kind that you can get at your local supermarket. It is not whole grain.

I once found some made by Delallo at Safeway but it has been discontinued. So I decided to try Amazon which, as it turns out, has several different brands.

I decided on Manta orecchiette because it is artisanal and cut with bronze dies plus it comes from the heart of orecchiette country in the town of Aradeo near Lecce in the province of Apulia. This is where I first had orecchiette with greens.

When John went to cook it, there were no instructions on how long it should be boiled. I guess the people at Manta assume that all Italian cooks would know to cook it until it is done. We started checking it at 8 minutes, then 10, then 11 1/2 minutes. We decided to drain it at that point (reserving a cup of the pasta water) and put it in the already sauteed mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Long story short, the pasta was not done and even though I kept cooking it in the sauce for another five minutes, it was still not totally merely al dente. I guess we should start checking at 12 minutes and probably cook it for at least 15 minutes. Obviously I am no Italian housewife.

Except for the pasta being undercooked slightly, it was delicious. We each had 3 ounces of pasta and there was plenty of mushrooms and greens to make a really enjoyable sauce enhanced with some EVOO and grated parmesan cheese.