Pasta is one of the finest chapters of Sardinian cooking, and two names always come up when it is discussed: culurgiones and malloreddus. They are different shapes, born for different sauces, and knowing them helps you choose with more pleasure when you sit down in a Sardinian restaurant in Rome.
Culurgiones: hand-sealed Sardinian ravioli
Culurgiones are filled ravioli, traditionally sealed by hand with a characteristic ear-of-wheat pleat. The most common filling is potato-based, with mint and cheese; on the official Da Luisu menu they are listed as PGI, in two versions.
Potato culurgiones
Homemade, typically Sardinian pasta filled with potato, mint and pecorino, dressed with butter and sage. It is a delicate preparation: the butter and sage leave room for the filling, sweet with potato and fresh with mint, with the savouriness of pecorino.
Ricotta culurgiones
Typically Sardinian ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, with saffron and lemon zest, dressed with a rosé sauce. The filling is softer and more fragrant, and the citrus and saffron add a livelier note.
Malloreddus: Sardinian gnocchetti
Malloreddus, also called Sardinian gnocchi, are small semolina dumplings with characteristic ridges that hold the sauce well. On the menu they come in two land versions and one seafood version.
Alla campidanese
The best-known recipe: fresh tomato, sausage ragù, aniseed and pecorino. The aniseed gives an unmistakable fragrance that sets the dish apart from an ordinary ragù.
Ricotta and saffron
Sardinian gnocchetti with ricotta, saffron and guanciale: a creamy, fragrant first course in which saffron, an ingredient closely tied to Sardinian tradition, colours and flavours the sauce.
With porcini and lupini
In a seafood version, the malloreddus are dressed with porcini mushrooms and lupini, the name the menu uses for Mediterranean clams. The menu marks with an asterisk that some items may be frozen.
Other Sardinian first courses on the menu
Among the land first courses there are also spaghetti alla vernaccia di Oristano, with guanciale and pecorino deglazed with the Sardinian DOC wine, and Cannonau risotto, with onion and pecorino finished with butter and deglazed with the red wine. Two dishes that show how in Sardinia wine goes into the cooking, not just onto the table.
What to drink with Sardinian pasta
For ricotta dishes and delicate ones you can choose a fresh white such as a Vermentino; for malloreddus alla campidanese, with sausage and tomato, a Sardinian red works well. On the restaurant's wine list you will find both Vermentino di Sardegna and di Gallura and several Cannonau di Sardegna, with their pairing notes.
A little history and culture
Culurgiones are associated in particular with Ogliastra, in eastern Sardinia, and the name "culurgiones d'Ogliastra" is protected as a PGI: this is why the menu marks them with that acronym. The hand-made ear-of-wheat seal is considered a hallmark: a good pastry sealed without a flaw takes experience. Malloreddus, on the other hand, are found all over the island; the name recalls a shape like a small calf, and saffron and aniseed are among the aromas most tied to Sardinian tradition. In both cases these are humble pastas, born in family kitchens and today a gastronomic symbol of the island.
How to order them for the first time
If it is your first time with Sardinian pasta, malloreddus alla campidanese are the most immediate and reassuring choice; if you want something more delicate, try the potato culurgiones with butter and sage.
Book your table
If you want to taste culurgiones or malloreddus, book with the form on this site or call 06 6156 4012. Da Luisu is at Via di Boccea 724, Rome: a restaurant with Sardinian and Roman cuisine and a pizzeria, where the official menu gives a description and price for every dish.
