Sprinkle a bit of semolina flour and water in a wide, shallow bowl. Use your fingertips to stir the mixture until it clumps into small, irregular balls. For a faster method, use a food processor to combine semolina and water until clumps form, about 20 seconds. (about 1 cup semolina to 6 tbsp water trickled in)

Transfer the clumps to a parchment-­lined rimmed baking sheet and use your fingers to pinch any large ones into smaller pieces. They need not be uniform, but none should be larger than a pencil eraser. Spread in an even layer, then let air-dry for 30 minutes. Toast in a 350°F oven until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Stir, then toast for another 5 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave until evenly golden brown (and firm), another 15 minutes.

Cook the fregola like traditional pasta for a pleasantly chewy texture. (saucepan with a little water is my guess, or cooked in a sauce with broth/water to absorb)

Pearl couscous, sometimes called Israeli couscous, makes a good substitute for fregola, but it must be toasted. To toast, put the couscous in a large, dry pot (the same one you’ll later use to cook the dish). Cook over medium, stirring often, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Even after toasting, the couscous will absorb liquid differently than true fregola, so be sure to adjust the broth as directed in the recipe notes. (i’m guessing his recipes? I’ll need to research this more)

Apparently the meat was rendered and the fregola toasted in the fat. Then the nuts, herbs, and cheese were blended together make a granular pesto cheese sauce type of deal. This is added to the pasta/meat with the tiniest bit of pasta water and topped with parmesan and olive oil. sounds good to me. He said it was served with hunks of fresh sausage, marinated artichoke hearts, pickled porcini mushrooms.

another recipe mentions a sauce. "It begins in the skillet, with olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, parsley and cherry tomatoes all simmered until saucy. Then the seafood. Then broth and fregola. In short order, it is done—tender, chewy and brightly flavored.”

"My favorite, predictably, is the seafood fregola, a brothy bowl of tiny irregular pasta nuggets bathed in tomato sauce and heaped with mussels, shrimp and calamari. It is rich, but not heavy. Briny, but not fishy. All balanced by the acidity of a brightly flavored sauce spiked with garlic and red pepper flakes. And again, fascinatingly similar to risotto, yet with more robust chew."