Malloreddus alla Campidanese
Ridged saffron gnocchetti with a sausage and tomato sauce. Sardinia's everyday pasta, and the ridges exist to hold the sauce.
Photograph credit: Malloreddus by Marica Massaro · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Malloreddus alla Campidanese, Step by Step
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Steep the saffron in the warm stock for 10 minutes.
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Soften the onion in the oil for 8 minutes, then add the crumbled sausage and brown it hard for 10 minutes, breaking it up small.
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Add the fennel seeds and cook 1 minute.
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Pour in the wine and let it reduce away almost completely.
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Add the passata, the saffron with its liquid, the salt and pepper. Simmer 40 minutes until thick and darkened.
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Boil the malloreddus in well-salted water until al dente, about 12 minutes, and drain, keeping a cup of the water.
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Toss the pasta through the sauce with a splash of the water and half the pecorino, then serve with the rest of the cheese and the basil.
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Small Things That Help
- Bloom the saffron in warm liquid first.
- Crumble the sausage, never slice it.
- The ridges hold the sauce — do not substitute a smooth shape.
Ingredient Swaps
- A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.
Serving Suggestions
- A glass of Cannonau
- Green salad
- Crusty bread
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Rosemary Focaccia, Creamy Parmesan Polenta, Ciabatta.
Storing & Reheating Malloreddus alla Campidanese
The sauce keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes for 3 months. Cook the pasta fresh.
Nutrition per Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .