RECIPE MAGIC!

CULURGIONES, SARDINIA'S PASTA


A glorious Italian main dish, culurgiones are tender pasta parcels stuffed with a soft gnocchi filling of potato, pecorino cheese, extra virgin olive oil and mint. It's usually served with a simple tomato sauce. The dish is a tradition of Sardinia, Italy's largest island off its west coast. The pouches are shaped in a wheat sheaf, although newbies to this pasta shape may simply choose to close up the parcels like a basic dumpling. Hint: As much as we tried, our we elected to shape our culurgiones like familiar dumplings. See image below. 

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium russet or baking potatoes, peeled
1 cup Pecorino cheese, grated (more for garnish)
1 clove garlic, minced
3-1/2 tbsp EVOO
8 fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped or 1/2 tsp B&B Dried Mint Leaves
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 
1 large egg
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup semolina flour (or substitute all purpose for softer pasta)
1/2 cup water
Tomato sauce (fresh homemade or Passata seasoned with 2 tbsp Garlic olive oil)
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DIRECTIONS:
For the filling:
Boil potatoes, whole until fork tender in centre. Drain, then mash with fork or masher until fluffy. Add grated cheese, garlic, 3 tbsp olive oil and mint. Mix with rubber spatula until blended, then add egg and mix again. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to allow ingredients to blend together, ideally overnight in the fridge.
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For the pasta dough:

In a mixing bowl, place flours and salt. Whisk to blend. Add olive oil and gradually add water while mixing by hand until a soft dough has formed. Transfer to clean floured surface and knead until smooth and even. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin or pasta machine until very thin, roughly 1/16" or 2mm. Use the lid of a large jar, round dough cutter or glass to make circles about 4" wide. 

For stuffing the pasta parcels:

The easy method to fill your dumpling is to add a walnut-sized lump of filling in the middle of each circle. Pick up the circle and place between your fingers. Fold over and seal, bringing the corners together, too. Form a rounded bonnet shape and create an air-tight seal by firmly pressing the edges together. [We used this method to make our culurgiones.]

The Sardinian method, which we encourage you to try, is to fill your dumpling is to add a walnut-sized lump of filling in the middle of each circle.

Pick up and place between fingers, bending dough in half, the shape of a mini-taco. Starting at one end, push in end to close the way you would a soft taco. Then pinch a tiny section of one side of the dough together and fold over the other side, the way you would fold over a braid. Then pinch the other side the same way and fold over, again. Continue to pinch and fold each side over the other until the excess stuffing is squeezed out of the other end, then pinch closed. It should look like a wheat sheaf. If all else fails, you can pinch together each side, to each other to close, end to end, resulting in a more traditional dumpling shape. A tight air-free seal is necessary prior to cooking the pasta. 

For cooking and serving culurgiones:

On high heat, working in batches, place culurgiones in pot of boiling water for 5 to 6 minutes, roughly 2 minutes more than it takes them to start floating. Drain with slotted spoon and ease onto a plate dressed with warmed tomato sauce. Serve with extra drizzle of EVOO and grated Pecorino cheese.