Malloreddus alla Campidanese
There are many versions of this dish, but that makes sense since it’s traditional to the entire island. Italy is a hyper regional/local market for food and wine so recipes will change depending on what city/town you’re in. Some recipes may call for a Cannonau wine, others a more unusual Vernaccia di Oristano.
For this recipe I’ve opted for the Oristano version, which uses a local, oxidized wine with a similar flavor profile to Sherry, called Vernaccia di Oristano. The wine offers a very subtle nutty flavor that is a perfect compliment to the bay leaf (some recipes call for basil, I wanted to switch up the red sauce basil vibes). The wine is difficult to find, so I’ve listed Sherry as the ingredient. If you don’t want to buy an entire bottle for this recipe, use what wine you have on hand! I used a mix of flat rose’ Lambrusco and Sherry.
The past shapes look like little gnocchi (a potato dumpling from northern Italian), but made with only semolina flour. Sardegna has been known for its saffron production since the time of the ancient Philistines, so sometimes these little malloreddus are made with saffron bloomed water, giving the pasta a bright yellow color.
Equipment
Boiling Pot for Pasta · Large Cast Iron or Large+Deep Saute Pan · Pasta Strainer · Measuring Cups ·Measuring Spoons · Cutting Board · Chopping Knife · Fork or Gnocchi Board· Large Mixing Bowl x2
Serves 4+
Ingredients for the pasta dough
330g fine milled Durum wheat flour (this is semolina flour, but a finer grained version)*
~200g warm water
1/4tsp sea salt
*you will find this flour most likely in specialty shops. I get mine from Central Milling in Petaluma, CA (they ship!), but check out the Caputo or King Arthur brands as well. Make sure it says “finely ground” or “rimacinata” in Italian.
Ingredients for the sauce
1/4c extra virgin olive oil
½ yellow or white onion
1 garlic clove
1 tsp crushed fennel seed (if you’re feeling old school, get out that mortar and pestle. Otherwise, you can grind it up in a small blender/food processor)
1lb ground pork
2 bay leaves
28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano or Bianco di Napoli preferred), that you’ve crushed by hand (dip your hand in and squeeze. This process will break up the whole tomato but still leave nice chunks)
¾ cup grated Pecorino (use Romano if you can’t find Pecorino Sardo or Pecorino )
1tsp sea salt
½ c Sherry
Making the pasta…
Add all the flour to a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle and slowly add the water, mixing with your hands
When all the water is incorporated, take out the dough and knead on a smooth surface (it’s ok if it’s still chonky when you take it out of the bowl, kneading it will incorporate it more)
Knead for ~5min until you have a smooth ball of dough. You can break up the dough in half if kneading a smaller amount at one time is easier.
Wrap the dough (or put back in bowl and cover with a wet towel) and leave in fridge for 30ish min
Once the dough has rested, you can start the pasta making!
Pull off a small bouncy ball size of dough and roll it into a rounded cord about a pencil width thick
From the cord, cut off a piece ½ in wide
Take this little piece of dough and place at the top of the fork, push your thumb into it and drag/roll it down the length of the fork
Eccolo! (Voilà!), you have a little malloreddu
Making the sauce…
finely chop the garlic and dice the onion
In the cast iron or saute pan, heat the garlic, onion and 1/4c olive oil on low
Simmer for a few minutes until the onion is translucent, don’t brown the garlic! Keeping the flame on low should do the trick
Crinkle up the Bay Leaves a little to release the aroma, add them into the pan along with the crushed fennel, stir around for a couple minutes
Add the ground pork + ½ tsp salt, mix, then turn up the heat to medium to brown the pork, continuing to break it up as it cooks ~7min
Add the sherry/wine, and let it simmer for a couple minutes.
Add the tomatoes and the remaining ½ tsp salt, turn the heat up to high to bubble/simmer
At this point, get a pot of water up to boil, salt with sea salt
The sauce should simmer and reduce for ~25-30 min (you may lower the heat to medium at a point as it thickens). The sauce should be dense enough where you can push a spoon through and it holds its shape for at least a few seconds
When you add the pasta to the boiling water, make sure your sauce is at the point you need it to be. If the pasta water starts to boil before the sauce is thick enough, turn down the heat and wait for the sauce to thicken
When sauce is ready and water is boiling, add the malloreddus, fresh pasta cooks faster than dry, taste test after 4min- if you still taste the flour/it’s sort of raw tasting, boil for 1-2 min longer
When the pasta is just about done, take ¼c cooking liquid from the pasta and add it to the sauce
Strain pasta and add it to the saucepan (or if you need a bigger vessel, add the pasta to a large bowl and then pour the sauce on top)
Add half the grated cheese, stir well with a semi-strong arm to incorporate all
serve/plate, sprinkle more grated cheese on top for garnish
