Campidanese Malloreddus

Sardinian Malloreddus

Malloredus, also named Sardinian gnocchetti, are definitely the most classic of the Sardinian shapes of pasta. They are shell-shaped and their length is about 2 cm up and they are prepared with bran flour and water. They are seasoned with various sauces and go by different names in different regions. In the Sassari area they are called cigiones or ciciones, in the area around Logudoro, macarones caidos, in the Nuoro surroundings, they are called  cravaos.

Malloredus have always been the best prepared traditional dish in Sardinia on any important occasions, either on local feasts or festivals or on weddings. Housekeepers have been preparing this kind of pasta for centuries and its origins are the result of the rural milling system, mostly based on wheat cultivation. The word malloreddu (malloredus in the plural ) is a diminutive of malloru, which in the campidanese dialect of south and middle-south Sardinia means "bull". Therefore, malloredus means "little calves".

Malloreddus were homemade by hand, blending hard wheat bran flour with water, and then rolling 15 cm strips of pasta, which were then cut into cubes. Afterwards they were shaped by pressing the cubes of pasta on the edge of a straw basket, called su ciuliri (the "riddle") thus obtaining a rounded shape which, in the agro-pastoral collective imagination, reminded of the shape of small calves (think about the wording " as fat as a calf").

Campidanese Malloreddus

Campidanese Malloredus is the classic dish of Sardinian cookery. It is made of a Sardinian sausage ragout and prepared with spices including: salt, pepper, anise seeds, cloves, saltpetre, and garlic. This sausage is particularly tasty because pigs are fed with aromatic herbs and scented acorns. Though similar in the whole region, its preparation differs in area surrounding Nuoro. After cutting meat carefully and seasoning it with spices, it is soaked for a whole day, then it is sacked in a casing and after exsiccating and being smoked it is ready to be eaten. Nowadays, this sausage is made in factories producing cold meats and salami, which keeps its features very uniform.

Basic Malloreddus Receipe:

Ingredients for 4 People:

• 400 grams of milled hard wheat bran flour
• 1 packet of saffron
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1 glass of tepid water

Campidanese Malloreddus

Preparation

To begin, form a mound of flour on a table or a marble slab, form a well in the middle of the flour, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of saffron. In the central hole in the flour slowly pour just under 1 glass of tepid water out, then mix carefully until you obtain a firm and elastic paste. Then create many little gnocchetti as big as a bean and pass them one by one on the surface of a riddle, to give the distinctive ribbed texture. Boil some salt water, pour the malloreddus out and train them when they float.

Preparation of the Campidanese Sauce

Ingredients

• 500 grams of fresh pork sausage
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 slice of garlic
• 1 packet of saffron
• 1 liter of tomato sauce
• 300 grams of grated pecorino
• basil
• salt and pepper

Malloreddus with tomato sauce

Preparation:

Grind onion and garlic carefully. Brown them in Extra-virgin olive oil. Once browned add the crumbled sausage in the extra-virgin olive oil. Gently cook the sausage (15 min). Then add the tomato sauce and salt and cook over a low heat until the sauce thickens. Add saffron, previously melted in a little water. Meanwhile, cook the malloreddus in plenty of salt water until slightly underdone, season them with the sauce previously made, some grated pecorino and some slightly grinded basil. Toss them in a pan and serve them very hot.