Culurgiones
Photo: --IlSignoreDeiPC (talk) usando una fotocamera iPhone. · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Culurgiones come from Ogliastra, on the eastern side of Sardinia, and have travelled to every table on the island including Cagliari's. The filling is a shepherd's economy: boiled potato, grated aged pecorino, olive oil or lard, and mint, which is what lifts the whole thing. The closure is the point of pride. The pleat, called spighitta after the wheat ear it resembles, is made by folding the dough over itself from side to side with the thumb and finger, and a badly stitched culurgione is a fair reason for criticism in Sardinia. The shape carries an older meaning as an offering, and in Ogliastra the parcels are still associated with the feasts of the dead in early November.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 1 hrTotal 1 hr 40 minDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 400g durum wheat semolina flour
  • 200ml warm water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 700g floury potatoes
  • 150g aged pecorino sardo, grated
  • 50g fresh mint leaves, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 400g passata, for the sauce

Method

  1. Work the semolina, salt and warm water into a firm dough, knead 10 minutes until smooth, then rest it covered for 30 minutes.
  2. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins until tender, peel while hot and pass them through a ricer.
  3. Beat the pecorino, mint, olive oil and garlic into the warm potato, season, and let the filling cool to room temperature.
  4. Roll the dough to 2mm, cut 8cm discs and place a walnut of filling in the centre of each.
  5. Close each disc by pinching the two edges together alternately from one end to the other, making the wheat-ear pleat, and press the last fold shut.
  6. Cook in plenty of salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, until they float and the seam is tender, and serve with warm passata and more grated pecorino.

Tip from the editors. Keep the filling firm. Wet potato tears the seam and the parcels burst as soon as they hit the water.

Where to eat culurgiones

Culurgiones in Cagliari

Su Cumbidu ★ 3.7

€€ ItalianMarina

Su Cumbidu on Via Napoli feeds the Marina fixed-price Sardinian menus under brick arches, culurgiones and seadas at prices Cagliari students accept.

OrderCulurgiones, potato and mint, in tomato sauce.

TipThe set menus are the value play at around €20 to 30; go early, because groups book out the arched back room.

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