gnocchetti sardi al sugo / Sardinian gnocchi with tomato sauce

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

malloreddus (Sardinian gnocchi)

Another cool type of handmade pasta! You can tell I am having a lot of fun with my recent explorations of traditional Italian pasta shapes. As the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC) crossed the sea to reach the shores of Sardegna (Sardinia), I knew this would be my chance to explore the traditional small gnocchi (gnocchetti) that are made on the island, called malloreddus.

Although I have been to Sardinia once, a trip from which I have a lot of fond memories, my connection with malloreddus comes from the fact that in my first job, I had a number of colleagues from Sardinia and a couple of times I saw the malloreddus one of them made. I wish I had been interested in cooking back then: I could have learned to make this pasta from an expert, but I wasn't and so I only remember the shape and the small size.

For my rendition, I was inspired by this video: the gnocchetti part starts at 2:52. The size of the pasta in the video is larger than what I made. Different recipes I read make different sizes, so I decided to make my an executive decision: my gnocchetti are on the small side, but not terribly small.

For the occasion, I purchased a gnocchi board, something I had on my wish list for a while. It is a small, inexpensive tool and is quite handy for making this pasta. In this video starting at 9:30, you can see malloreddus shaped inside a basket with a flat bottom (called ciuliri in dialect): based on what I read, this is the traditional way of making them. (If you don't have a gnocchi board, you can try using the tines of a fork or the back of a cheese grater as surface to shape the dough. Update, May 22, 2013: I have learned that an online store sells a malloreddus board, whose surface is a bit different from the gnocchi board.)

a pretty pasta shape

Here are my gnocchetti on the kneading board (spianatoia), which this time I remembered to flour lightly. And the short video shows my hands cutting the rope of pasta and shaping gnocchetti. As in the video that inspired me, I am showing two ways of shaping the pasta: you can use your thumb or your index finger, depending on how you feel more comfortable. You'll see in the video that the position of the gnocchi board depends on the finger you want to use.

 

The trick here is to apply the right amount of pressure on the piece of dough while dragging it along the board so that you get the sort of curl with the grooves on the surface and the nice nook on the other side (think: sauce cradle). If you press too hard, the dough gets sort of smushed and sticks to the board. I found that I did not need to flour the gnocchi board: it remained dry throughout the process. However, as usual, I made a small batch every time, which is what I suggest you do too, the first time you try. (To learn well, though, I made the small batch six times in a matter of 10 days or so.)

The dough for malloreddus includes a small amount of zafferano (saffron), which is a product of the island, "the crimson spice that turns foods an inviting yellow while conferring an elusive something that makes the food taste all the better." (source)

The tomato sauce in the recipe for malloreddus alla campidanese (Campidano is an area of Sardinia) includes sausage, but I skipped that in favor of my usual, simpler, tomato sauce made with roasted tomatoes. However, based on those recipes, a suggestion I received in a recent comment, and the fact that this pasta shape is fairly sturdy, I decided to finish the dish in a small skillet, where I warmed up the sauce.

Ingredients for the pasta (I recommend weighing both flour and water because the quantities involved are small):

• 50 g / 1.75 oz. hot water
  
• a few strand of saffron or a pinch of saffron powder
• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality¹
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or fiore sardo (Sardinian sheep cheese), or a mix of the two cheeses, to taste

Add the saffron strands or the powder to the water. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes or so. If using the strands, remove them before using the water to make the pasta dough.

Make a dough with the water, flour and salt and knead until nice and smooth. [This post (with video) talks about how to make semolina pasta dough] Let the dough rest, covered well so that it does not dry out, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the gnocchetti. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Shape each small piece into a gnocchetto using a gnocchi board or other method (see above). Place a piece of dough on the board, apply to it some pressure with either your thumb or your index finger and drag it on the board to curl it. The resulting gnocchetto will have grooves on the convex surface and a nice nook on the other side. If you use your thumb, the board handle points towards you and the dragging motion is away from you. If you use your index finger, the board faces you and the dragging motion is towards you.

Lay out the gnocchetti to dry.

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the orecchiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the malloreddus in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). They will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of the gnocchetti, how dry they are, etc. Of all the pasta shapes I made recently, this is the one that took longest to cook. Still don't wander far away from the pot, but, for example, grate the cheese while you wait.

While the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly earlier than usual. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

¹ See the post on orecchiette for details on the various types of ground durum wheat.

Totally cute pasta, don't you think?

This is my submission for the 14th installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. Q come Quartu Sant'Elena (Sardegna) is hosted by Bribantilla e Satori of The Cooking Sisters. This page contains the list of all the contributions to the event.

I am also sending this to the #279 edition of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by the creator herself. This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

gnocchetti sardi al sugo

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pasta, tomato sauce, Italian recipe

gnocchetti sardi al sugo

malloreddus (gnocchetti sardi)

Un'altra tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia e un'altra occasione per cimentarmi con una pasta tradizionale: arriviamo in Sardegna e io imparo a fare i malloreddus.

Della mia unica visita in Sardegna ho dei bei ricordi, ma i malloreddus della mia memoria vengono dalle colleghe sarde del mio primo lavoro. Avrei potuto imparare da loro, ma a quell'epoca la cucina non mi interessava (e tra lavoro a tempo pieno e università non avevo nemmeno tempo). Mi ricordo però che erano piccoli.

Per i miei esperimenti ho seguito questo video (la signora comincia a formare gli gnocchetti dopo 2' e 52"). Per l'occasione, mi sono dotata di riga gnocchi e mi ci sono trovata bene. Ho letto che tradizionalmente i malloreddus si preparano con l'aiuto di un cestino che si chiama ciuliri (in questo video lo si vede dopo 9' e 30".)

una pasta davvero carina

Questa breve sequenza mostra le mie mani al lavoro. Stavolta mi sono ricordata di infarinare un po' la spianatoia. Come nel video che mi ha ispirato, faccio vedere due modi per formare gli gnocchi: col pollice o con l'indice. La posizione del riga gnocchi rispetto alle mani dipende da quale dito usate. 

 

Occorre applicare abbastanza pressione al pezzetto di pasta mentre lo si trascina lungo le righe per farlo arricciare, ma non tanta da spiaccicarlo. Non ho mai avuto bisogno di infarinare il riga gnocchi, forse perché come al solito ogni volta ho fatto una quantità di pasta limitata in modo da imparare senza sentirmi sotterrata (in totale credo di averli fatti sei volte in una decina di giorni).

L'impasto per fare i malloreddus comprende una piccola quantità di zafferano, prodotto tipico dell'isola. Invece di fare un sugo sostanzioso, data anche la stagione, ho usato il mio solito sugo di pomodoro fatto con i pomodori arrosto. Però in base a delle ricette che ho visto, ad un commento recente, e al fatto che questo tipo di pasta è piuttosto resistente alla cottura, ho deciso di terminare la cottura in una padellina col sugo.

Ingredienti:

• 50 g acqua molto calda
• alcuni stimmi di zafferano o un pizzico di zafferano in polvere
• 100 g semola di grano duro
• un pizzico di sale
• sugo di pomodoro a piacere
• Parmigiano-Reggiano o fiore sardo grattugiato, o un misto, a piacere

Mettere i fili di zafferano o la polvere nell'acqua e mescolare. Far riposare per 10 minuti. Lavorare semola, acqua e sale fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. [Questo post (con video) descrive come faccio l'impasto per pasta con la semola] Farlo riposare, ben coperto, per almeno mezz'ora.

Formare un salsicciotto e tagliarlo a pezzi da lavorare uno alla volta, mentre gli altri rimangono al coperto. Rotolare fino ad ottenere un serpentello grosso come una matita (anche qui ho notato un po' di variabilità, ma questo è quello che ho fatto io) e tagliarlo a pezzetti di 1 cm. Fare ad ogni pezzetto di impasto la forma di uno gnocchetto usando il riga gnocchi o altro metodo che preferite.

Occorre applicare abbastanza pressione al pezzetto di pasta mentre lo si trascina lungo le righe per farlo arricciare, ma non tanta da spiaccicarlo. La posizione del riga gnocchi rispetto alle mani dipende da quale dito usate per formare lo gnocchetto. Se usate il pollice, il manico del riga gnocchi è puntato verso di voi e il dito si allontana da voi. Se usate l'indice, il riga gnocchi è di fronte a voi e il dito si muove verso di voi.

Lasciar asciugare gli gnocchetti.

Preparate un sugo di pomodoro come volete. Questa è la stagione dei pomodori, quindi usarli freschi è un'opzione. Nel mio caso, avevo della passata di pomodori arrosto e ho usato quella.

Cuocere gli gnocchetti in abbondante acqua salata. Nel frattempo, mettere qualche cucchiaio di sugo in una padellina e scaldarlo. Scolare gli gnocchetti un po' prima del solito e versarli nella padellina col sugo. Alzare il calore e mescolare bene per un paio di minuti. Condire con parte del formaggio e mescolare un'ultima volta. Impiattare e spargere dell'altro formaggio sulla pasta. Servire immediatamente. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.

Sono carinissimi, vero?

Con questo post contribuisco anche all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. La tappa Q come Quartu Sant'Elena (Sardegna) è ospitata da Bribantilla e Satori di The Cooking Sisters.

Questa pagina contiene la lista dei contributi all'evento.

 

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gnocchetti alla farina di castagne / chestnut flour gnocchetti

Comments

[alda]

wow wow wow

[Simona Carini]

Grazie del complimento, Alda. Sto diventando esperta di pasta fatta a mano. Se perdo il lavoro, magari lancio un piccolo business.

[Bribantilla]

Accidenti!! Non mi sarei davvero aspettata che qualcuno si cimentasse nella produzione dei malloreddus from scratch!
I miei complimenti... e grazie per questo bellissimo contributo! :))

[Alicia (foodycat)]

They look absolutely perfect!

[bellini]

These are perfect little pillows.

[Ruth]

I eagerly await your awesome pasta making lessons and this week's gnocchetti are fantastic. It's definitely getting cooler around here and I'm eager to actually try these out very soon. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

[Juno]

You have to be very patient to start such a recipe but the result is worth that amount of time.

[Aiuolik]

Eccola la Q in tutto il suo splendore: http://abcincucina.blogspot.com.es/2012/08/q-come-quartu-santelena.html!

E complimenti perché la tua foto è stata scelta come testimonial!

Grazie della partecipazione e ora tutti a Roma!!!
Ciaooooo
Aiu'

[Frank]

I'm a big fan of malloreddus but have only had the store-bought kind. They don't look to hard to make—weekend project!

And I learned something new from the video. I have always used my index finger in a vertical direction. Using my thumb in a horizontal direction had never occurred to me.

[Katie]

I'm inspired to start making pasta again.... as soon as it cools off a bit LOL
But the tomato sauce - that I can make now. I had the best tomato sauce I have ever tasted in Livorno - no idea how it was made, very simple, but heavenly!

[Simona Carini]

Grazie Bribantilla. Era da tempo che avevo in mente di provare a farli e questa era l'occasione giusta. Adesso non mi ferma piu' nessuno ;)

Thank you, Alicia and Val, for the kind words.

Thanks, Ruth. I hope you give a try to any of the shapes I have made so far. I have another one in store for the next time I host Presto Pasta Nights. We'll see if my experiments are successful.

Hi Juno. Indeed, a bit of patience is required and it helps making the task smaller than in the usual recipes. And yes, the time investment is justified by the result.

[Simona Carini]

Grazie Aiuolik! Sono onorata della scelta e vi seguiro' prontamente a Roma.

Ciao Frank. I am glad my post has been helpful. I actually slightly prefer the thumb option. Let me know if you try and what you think.

Ciao Katie. I am curious too: some family secret, perhaps?

[Anna Engdahl]

Thank you! Ilove your pasta lessons. I've never used a gnocchi board, I make them the way my mother did. Two fingers, drag them toward you and flick them away. Goes very fast.
I just got the garganelli board from Amazon,it came with the dowel and I can't wait to try it.

[Simona Carini]

You are welcome, Anna. I am glad you like the little lesson. I have yet to try the gnocchi board in the making of regular potato gnocchi. Let me know how it goes with the garganelli board.

[Meadow]

Why is this not cavatelli? I'm not doubting you, I'm trying to understand why so many places show me a semolina/water dough cavatelli.

I used a gnocchi board on my first attempt here and loved it. It's also how I discovered this site. FANTASTIC RESOURCE. Thanks.

[Simona Carini]

Dear Meadow, thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad you found my blog useful and I am glad you are having fun making pasta by hand.

The naming of pasta in Italy is a complex topic. The same pasta shape has different names and the same name may describe different pasta shapes, all depending on geography. So, cavatelli is not a unique pasta shape, as you can read in the chapter dedicated to them in the Encyclopedia of Pasta.

The dough for Sardinian gnocchetti contains saffron, a characteristic unique to them. None of the types of cavatelli I have seen resembles my gnocchetti, which, on the other hand, resemble the malloreddus a colleague of mine from Sardinia used to make (this is years ago, when I was still living in Italy and unfortunately I never saw her actually making them, but I remember their shape).

[Meadow]

Good to know, about the naming.

My cavatelli are rather stubby, and seem to most closely resemble the malloreddus you mention.

https://goo.gl/photos/1CfqKLiRocsoynLN6

Practice, practice, practice!

[Simona Carini]

Your pasta looks nice! Indeed, practice is key. And remember that even the pieces that don't look perfect are good to eat.