Ogliastra Culurgionis

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PRESENTATION

You can't visit the territory of Ogliastra in Sardinia without tasting the Ogliastra culurgionis in every town, village, and trattoria! It is a very ancient type of stuffed pasta, a thin sheet that hides inside a cream of boiled potatoes, typical cheese (the fiscidu), garlic, mint, and extra virgin olive oil. They are closed "a spighitta" to resemble wheat spikes and are usually dressed with a simple tomato sauce and grated Sardinian Pecorino cheese. A real delicacy despite being a simple and rustic dish, but its genuineness, taste, and softness make culurgionis a true dining experience. The fillings of this first course can vary from town to town in Ogliastra. We invited Delia and Pierandrea Usai, owners of the pasta factory-gastronomy "Is Culurgionis" in Tortolì (Arbatax), into the GialloZafferano kitchen to not only show you their skill in preparation but also to share with you the typical recipe, precisely the one born in the Sardinian hinterland, specifically in Jerzu.

Discover many other Sardinian delights like:

  • Gallurese soup
  • pardulas
  • coccois prenas
  • Sardinian ricotta ravioli
  • seadas

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for the culurgionis
Soft wheat flour 1 ¼ cup (150 g)
Remilled durum wheat semolina 1 cup (80 g)
Fine salt 1 tsp (5 g)
Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp (30 g) - approximately
Water (80 g)
For the filling
Potatoes 2.2 lbs (1 kg) - (yellow-fleshed, old)
Sardinian pecorino cheese 3.5 oz (100 g) - (semi-aged, for grating)
Fiscidu cheese 0.7 oz (20 g)
Garlic 1 clove
Dried mint 1 tsp
Extra virgin olive oil to taste
Fine salt to taste
For seasoning
Tomato sauce to taste - (fresh)
Pecorino cheese to taste - (semi-aged, for grating)
Preparation

How to prepare Ogliastra Culurgionis

To prepare the Ogliastra culurgionis, start by cooking the potatoes needed for the filling: they should be peeled and cut into two or four wedges depending on the size to then be boiled, so they will cook faster. Cook them for about 40 minutes on low heat, covered with a lid. In the meantime, pour the all-purpose flour and durum wheat flour onto the work surface, add the salt 1, mix, pour in the olive oil 2, then create a hole in the center 3.

Pour the water gradually 4 and mix with your fingers 5 gathering the surrounding flour. Knead 6 and if you notice that the dough is too hard, you can soften it with just a little bit of water.

Knead for a good 3-4 minutes 7 and once ready 8, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 10 minutes 9.

Meanwhile, peel the garlic, remove the core, then grate directly into a bowl where you have placed the fiscidu 10, mix with a fork to soften and mash it 11. Drain and mash the hot potatoes in a separate bowl with a potato masher 12 or a fork.

Mix 13, add dried mint 14 and the fiscidu and garlic cream 15.

Season with olive oil 16, salt 17, and grated Sardinian Pecorino cheese 18.

Continue to stir to create a homogeneous filling 19, finish with a spatula for a smooth filling then set aside. Take the dough, divide it into two parts 20 and cover with plastic wrap the parts you are not using immediately. Dust the work surface with flour, roll out slightly by hand and then with a rolling pin, then pass through the pasta machine several times for a very thin sheet 21.

Using a 2.5-inch cookie cutter, cut out round shapes 22. Place the culurgionis filling in a piping bag without a nozzle and fill each round 23, then remove the excess dough. Now comes the most anticipated moment: the "a spighitta" closure of the culurgionis. Hold the round with one hand, gently press the filling with the index finger of the other hand to flatten it 24.

Then start from the outermost point to close the dough moving towards the other side 25 26 to close it like a spike, alternating thumb and index finger movements to pinch the dough. The first one is ready 27; as you finish closing them you can place them on a towel sprinkled with semolina.

The culurgionis cook in salted water brought to a boil 28. It will take about 2 and a half minutes. Count another minute from when they float to the surface. We recommend dropping them gently into boiling water, a few at a time because otherwise they could open. You can dress them the traditional classic way, with a simple fresh tomato sauce and grated Sardinian Pecorino cheese on each serving plate 29 30. Enjoy!

How to store

Once ready, the culurgionis can be placed on a towel sprinkled with semolina and frozen until firm, well spaced. Then they can be transferred to freezer bags. They can be boiled from frozen.

Tips

To achieve a perfect dough, we recommend adding additional water while kneading if it feels too stiff, but very little at a time.

If you cannot find fiscidu, the typical Sardinian cheese for the filling as per Jerzu tradition, you can use feta or alternatively just increase the amount of Pecorino.

For the filling of Ogliastra Culurgionis, old yellow-fleshed potatoes are preferable.

Is Culurgionis di Tortolì

A family-run pasta factory, where you can find the authentic flavors of fresh handmade pasta, with original and timeless recipes. "Is Culurgionis" is managed by Pierandrea Usai, son of Mrs. Delia, and is located in Tortolì (Arbatax). Here you can taste the real Culurgionis made with the typical filling from Jerzu (one of the Ogliastra towns where the tradition of "is culurgionis" began) and many other delicacies made by Pierandrea and the fantastic girls and ladies of the workshop, like the Sardinian fregula made and crumbled entirely by hand!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.