History

Busa is the Sardinian word for the thin iron rod, often a knitting needle, that the pasta is rolled around. The technique belongs to the island's interior, where hard durum semolina and water made pasta without eggs, and each piece is shaped by hand on a wooden board. The tube's thickness is the point: it takes a heavy sugo without collapsing. It reaches Alghero tables through families who came down from mountain villages, and appears on the menu at Trattoria Lo Romanì, where the kitchen's roots are in Tonara in the Barbagia.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 1 hrTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 400g fine durum semolina
  • 200ml warm water
  • A pinch of salt
  • 400g passata
  • 200g fresh Sardinian sausage, skinned and crumbled
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • A knitting needle or thin metal skewer
  • Grated pecorino sardo to finish

Method

  1. Work the semolina, salt and warm water into a firm smooth dough and rest it wrapped for 30 minutes.
  2. Roll ropes the thickness of a pencil and cut them into 6cm lengths.
  3. Lay a length beside the needle and roll it under your palm so the dough wraps around the rod, then slide the tube off. Repeat.
  4. Spread the tubes on a semolina-dusted tray to dry while you make the sauce.
  5. Soften the onion in the oil, add the crumbled sausage and brown it, then pour in the passata and simmer 40 minutes.
  6. Boil the pasta in salted water for 5 to 7 minutes, until it floats and is chewy at the centre.
  7. Drain and toss in the sauce with a spoonful of the cooking water, then finish with pecorino.

Tip from the editors. Keep the dough firmer than you think. A soft dough sticks to the needle and tears instead of wrapping.

Where to eat macarrones de busa

Macarrones de busa in Alghero

Trattoria Lo Romanì ★ 4.4

€€ TrattoriaCentro Storico

Under stone vaults on Via Lazzaretto in Alghero, Lo Romanì is run by Gigi and Vittoria and closes on Mondays, with porceddu on the meat side.

OrderMacarrones de busa from Tonara, followed by whatever Gigi bought that morning.

Directions

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