Culurgiones

Traditional dumplings from eastern Sardinia for festivities like All Souls' Day and Carnival. Pasta filled with mashed potatoes and pecorino. They look sensational and are saturating. But they are a bit tricky to make and I am going to show you how.

Pasta dough:

• 250grams all-purpose flour
• 250grams semolina
• 150grams water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 50grams ricotta cheese
• 50grams pecorino cheese
• 4 potatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• mint leaves

Tools:

• Pasta maker
• Silicon kneading mat
• Kitchen scale
• Dough roller circle

Weigh 250grams semolina and 250grams all-purpose flour. Mix them throroughly with a teaspoon of salt. Create the shape of a volcano with the mix and give 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the mid. Use the spoon to mix the olive oil with the flour.

After stirring in the olive oil, add the 150ml of water in 3 steps (50ml each). Depending on the quality of your semolina you might have to add more water. The dough should not be hard, but also not be sticky. Knead everything into a smooth dough, wrap in cling foil and store in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Boil the 4 peeled potatoes until tender and then mash them. Weigh 50grams of ricotta and 50grams of grated pecorino cheese. Then chop the mint leaves. Mix everything together in a bowl.

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll a flat sheet with your pasta maker, big enough to cut out 6 disks of 8cm each time. Either use a glass with a width of 8cm or a roller cutter. Take a teaspoon of the filling and put it in the midth of each pasta disks. If you want to train the folding procedure first, take only a half teaspoon of the filling.

If you are right handed place the dough between your left index finger and thumb. Take your right index finger and fold a notch in the center. Then alternating with your middle finger and thumb you fold the dough from the sides to the mid while your index finger leads.

The culurgiones design is based on the model of ears in a wheat field. Once you reach the other side of the notch and the circle becomes smaller, make sure you close the dumpling and remove any excess filling. Press the last folds together again to avoid the filling flowing out during the cooking procedure.

Cook the finished culurgiones in salted boiling water. Due to their weight they need at least 5 minutes.

Then toss them in a saucepan with butter and sage or serve with a tomato sauce. Sometimes they are served with little pork cubes and even more pecorino. They are saturating and a visual upgrade to any dinner party.

Enjoy your meal!