Fancy taking a culinary trip to Sardinia? Try making these incredible Sardinian Culurgiones that are not only super tasty, but visually beautiful!
What are Sardinian Culurgiones?
This dish is a unique type of dumpling or stuffed pasta from a mountainous area in Eastern Sardinia. They are traditionally stuffed with a combination of mashed potato, pecorino cheese, garlic, mixed herbs, and olive oil. The dumplings are then served on a bed of homemade tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan.
The unique aspect of Sardinian Culurgiones is their fold and shape. It is supposed to resemble a wheat strand. It might take a few goes to nail the fold of this dumpling, but once you’ve practised, you’ll get there in no time! If you’re really struggling with the pleating, just seal the dumplings in a crescent shape and cook from there, they will still taste delicious.
The Dough Recipe
Culurgiones are traditionally made with a pasta dough made from ‘00’ or plain flour, egg, olive oil, and salt. To add a bit of flare and uniqueness, I thought it would be fun to create two types of dough. One plain dough, and one made with spinach or basil, to make the dough green. This is totally optional, but I found it created a stunning result.
To make the green dough, simply combine a handful of spinach or basil leaves, boiling water, and egg in a blender. Then, add this wet mixture to flour and form into a dough.
To have half of the dough green and half plain, roll both doughs into equal sized cylinders. Place side-by-side and press together. Gently thread the combined doughs through a pasta rolling machine, or roll the dough out by hand using a rolling pin. You should end up with a strip of dough that is half green and half yellow.
The Potato Filling
The filling is very simple. Combine smooth mashed potato, grated pecorino cheese, minced garlic, mixed herbs, olive oil, and plenty of seasoning in a large bowl. You want to make sure it’s all well combined.
Leave the mixture to cool before filling the dumplings. This makes it easier to handle!
Wrapping Sardinian Culurgiones
Don’t be put off by the somewhat technical design of these dumplings. Yes, it might take several attempts to perfect the fold…but with some practise, you’ll be there in no time. In an ideal world, every Sardinian Culurgiones would look like a wheat strand, pleated delicately, like a plait.
Fold the dumpling as shown in my video tutorial found on my Instagram! You have to pinch the end of the wrapper and then fold it in on itself, repeating this until the dumpling is sealed.
The Sauce
This elevates the dish to a whole new level. You can either conjure up a traditional tomato sauce including onions, garlic, tomatoes, and mixed herbs. Or, you can make this super simple red pepper sauce that I discovered whilst making my Dominican Domplines dish. It’s cheesy, sweet, and creamy, a perfect addition to Culurgiones, in my opinion.
Cooking & Serving Sardinian Culurgiones
Once you’ve wrapped all of your dumplings, place them in salted boiling water for 5 minutes.
Drain the Culurgiones and then serve them up with a good portion of sauce and a generous sprinkle of parmesan!
Want More Dumpling Recipes?
Check Out My Dumpling World Tour Series
I've set myself a challenge to go around the world in 80 dumplings. Why? Because so many countries share a love for dumplings and every country’s dumplings have their own unique twist. From Varenyky in Ukraine to Banh Bot Loc in Vietnam, dumplings are a way for us to celebrate various cultures and culinary differences from all parts of the globe.
Not all my dumpling recipes are up on my website, yet! So, if you’d like to check them out, head on over to my Instagram for the video tutorial and full recipe!
Sardinian Culurgiones
Ingredients
Simple Dough
- 100g '00' or plain flour
- 1 egg
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Spinach/Basil Dough
- 100g '00' or plain flour
- 1 egg
- Pinch of salt
- 20ml Boiling water
- Handful of basil or spinach leaves
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Filling
- 5 potatoes, boiled
- 50g grated pecorino cheese
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp mixed herbs
Sauce
- 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
- 30g cheddar cheese, roughly chopped
- 100ml milk
- Seasoning
Instructions
For The Simple Dough
- Pour the flour onto a clean surface. Make a crater in the centre and pour in the eggs, salt, and olive oil. Gently whisk the wet ingredients with a fork, bringing in the flour in from the edges.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes and the set aside in cling film for 15 minutes.
For The Green Dough
- In a blender, combine spinach/basil leaves, boiling water, egg, salt, and olive oil to create a green mixture.
- Pour the flour onto a clean surface. Make a crater in the centre of the flour and pour in the green mixture. Gently whisk the wet ingredients with a fork, bringing in the flour from the edges. Add more flour if the mixture is too wet. Add more water or olive oil if the dough is too dry.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes and then set aside in cling film.
For The Filling
- In a bowl, combine your filling ingredients. Mix thoroughly so the ingredients are well incorporated.
Making The Dumpling Wrappers
- Roll out each coloured dough into the same length and thickness cylinder (you may need to resize each dough so they are of equal sizes). Place them side by side and push them together so they become one singular dough.
- Either using a rolling pin or a pasta machine, begin rolling the dough until it's 2-3mm in thickness. You should have half the strip as plain dough and half the strip as green dough (check out my video or the images above for reference).
- Using a circular cutter (around 3 inches in diameter), cut out wrappers from the dough with equal colours on each half of the wrapper.
- Set these aside under a damp cloth or cling film to avoid drying out.
Assembling The Dumplings
- Place a spoonful of the filling into the centre of the wrapper.
- Pinch at the bottom of the wrapper then keep folding inwards until the dumpling is closed. The end result is that the Culurgione should look like a wheat strand. For a video tutorial, check out my Instagram! Repeat this step until there is no more dough or filling.
Cooking
- In a pan of salted boiling water, add in your Culurgiones and simmer for 5-6 minutes. They should float to the top of the water.
- Remove and drain.
The Sauce
- In a blender, combine red pepper, cheese, milk, and seasoning. Heat it up in a pan and then your sauce is ready to go!
Serving
- On a plate, add a big spoonful of the sauce as the base. Then, delicately place the Culurgione on top of the sauce and sprinkle with parmesan. Enjoy!
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