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[Regions of Italy] 
[Back to Sardinia]
The Sardinians are probably unique among the world's island dwellers because their traditional cuisine is not based on seafood. Despite the fish-rich waters which surround them, they developed a cuisine that largely, but not entirely, ignores the sea. The reason for this is that the Sardinians are really mountain people, rather than island people. Native Sardinians live in the rugged interior and have traditionally applied themselves as shepherds, farmers and hunters. The coastal areas have been left to a series of invaders, beginning with the Phoenicians, followed by the Carthaginians, the Greeks and Romans, the Genoese and Pisans, the Spanish and modern Italians and finally, in this century, an army of tourists seeking the luxury resorts of the Costa Smeralda.
While coastal towns changed rulers, the natives were happy to stick to the interior, raising remarkable herds of pigs, goats and sheep and large crops of wheat. The results of their labors are a great tradition of roasted meats and game and some very interesting types of pasta. The favored method of roasting requires use of a whole animal. If you are roasting something as large as a pig or a goat, this will involve some big, often outdoor equipment or, as is the real preference on the island, digging a whole large enough to bury the beast with hot coals. The results are stupendous, but the effort is only worthwhile if you are planning to feed the entire village.
Sardinian pasta is another matter, much more accessible to the home chef. There are several pastas for which Sardinia is well known. One is malloreddus, a small, gnocchi-like pasta with saffron in the dough. This is generally topped with a tomato sauce or with a rich meat sauce which also includes saffron. The Sardinian version of ravioli is culingiones, which is oval or round and stuffed with spinach and pecorino cheese. Culingiones can be topped with tomato sauce, meat sauce or butter and sage leaves. My favorite Sardinian pasta is spaghetti con bottarga. Bottarga is the dried roe of the grey mullet or Mediterranean tuna, which is grated very much as you grate hard cheese. The dish is basically the standard spaghetti aglio e olio (garlic and olive oil) with the addition of the bottarga, which adds a salty taste like a peasant's caviar.
Malloreddus and bottarga are available in many Italian specialty food stores. You can also make malloreddus by adding saffron to your own fresh pasta (for every 2 cups of flour, boil a generous pinch of saffron threads in 2 tablespoons of water; let cool and add to the eggs before combining with the flour. Saffron pasta can be finished in any shape). Below I've given instructions for culingiones, spaghetti con bottarga and a modern version of a Sardinian meat sauce using ground turkey. Happy cooking!
Combine cooked spinach with ricotta, eggs and grated cheese. Blend until smooth. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
On one sheet of pasta, make mounds of stuffing of about 1-1/2 tbs., about 1-1/2 in. apart. Place the other sheet of pasta on top and press down between mounds. Use a cookie cutter, pastry wheel or knife to cut ravioli.
Cook ravioli in batches (do not overcrowd the pot) in abundant boiling water. They are done when they float to the top. Lift out of water with slotted spoon and drain on towels. Serve with tomato sauce, meat sauce or butter and sage leaves.
Use sauce over culingiones, malloreddus and other short dried pasta such as penne.
[Regions of Italy] [Back to Sardinia]