This week’s Regional Italian recipe comes from the region of Sardinia or, as we say, Sardegna, one of the 2 biggest islands of Italy (the other being Sicily). It is a fantastic place with some of the best food and seaside in the world (I am not kidding you). It is well known in Italy as a holiday destination, even though I feel it is not as appreciated as it should be, outside Italy. The island has a very unique history and culture. It even has its own language (even though it would be more correct to say “languages” as there is more than one) that has been widely influenced by Catalan (which is still spoken in certain areas of Sardinia) and Spanish (having been under Spanish domination for about 4 centuries). Today I want to share with you the most classic of Sardinian recipes: Malloreddus alla Campidanese. It is a gnocco shaped pasta served with a sausage, tomato and saffron sauce, typical of the central and southern areas of the island. Like many of the dishes of this region, it is a poor’s man dish, but it tastes fantastic. Sardinia is manly an agricultural and pastoral area and it is very famous for its sheep milk cheeses, like Pecorino (which cannot be omitted in this recipe ;-P). Do not forget to check out my tutorial on How to make Malloreddus, so you can make your own! Enjoy and don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $50 or a $25 Amazon.com gift card!
Recipe adapted from Il Sardo
Ingredients (for 6 persons):
200 gms – 7 oz. Italian pork sausage
500 gms – 2 cups tomato purée
50 ml – 1.75 oz. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
5 basil leaves (optional)
1 pinch saffron
Salt to taste
Pecorino Romano, thinly grated to serve
500 gms – 1 lb. malloreddus
Sauté the chopped onion with the extra virgin olive oil (1) on a low fire, until soft and translucent. Remove the skin from the sausage, chop it and add it to the onions (2). Brown it well breaking the lumps with a wooden spoon (3). Add the tomato purée, the bay leaf and salt and let it cook on a low fire for 20 minutes (4).
Now add the basil leaves (optional) and the saffron (if you are using saffron threads, melt them in some warm water first), stir well and cook for another 5 minutes.
In the meantime, cook the malloreddus following the steps on “How to cook pasta al dente”. Only in this case you will not have a pre set cooking time. This will vary on the thickness of your malloreddus (it should take approximately 5 minutes). So, the best solution is to taste it! Remember, it does have to remain firm.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it, put it in the frying pan with the sausauge sauce and put the fire on a medium flame. Stir well making sure the pasta is well coated with the sauce.
Serve it hot…
… and sprinkle some grated Pecorino Romano on the top. Enjoy!
For a complete list of the Regional Italian recipes already published, click here!
Hi Manu,
I made this recipe today and the sauce was absolutely delicious. I cooked mine for 12 minutes and they were still raw and very bouncy. I’m Italian and I like my pasta al dente but why did they take so long too cook and why was the texture a bit off? Love the recipe anyways
Hi Emma
I am not sure why that happened. Malloreddus are not gnocchi, so they will be firmer – like any other home-made pasta. However, they should take just a few minutes to cook. What flour have you used? Have you made them very thick? Maybe try and press them down on the fork a bit more to make them thinner. I hope it helps. <3
Hi Manu! I’m Spanish and my family ADORE your recipes. I’ve just finished this sauce and: Oh my god! It’s so good! Thank you so much for the effort behind the blog. I find this one of the best blogs–if not the one– in italian food.
Hi!!! Thank you so much for your sweet words! I just put the computer on for the day and your comment made my day! THANKS!!! 🙂
I’m French, I don’t speak very well English but I want to say that I love this recipe, my wife too. I regulary cook it and many others. I found this site the best of Italian recipes, I often consult it. Thank you for all this delicious dishes. I hope that the translation in French will soon there.
🙂 Florian, merci beaucoup pour ton commentaire sur mon blog! Je suis vraiment heureuse de savoir que ta femme et toi aiment bien mes recettes! Mon francais est terrible (je l’ai étudié à l’école, mais je ne le parle plus il y a 15 ans!)… but really, thank you sooo much for your words! You made my day! I hope to “see you” around often! 🙂
Manu, your malloreddus look amazing! Great recipe!
Oh this is perfect winter grub, Manu. Comforting, and tasty. Making this very soon – though my pasta isn’t going to look anywhere near as good as yours!
Another delicious looking dish Manu! I love the combination of Italian sausage and pasta, although I’ve never had or seen malloreddus. It looks good.
It’s making me so hungry!!
I love hearty meal like this, Manu. It’s making me hungry.
I agree, Sardinia is beautiful. I spent many summers of my childhood there. I love their food too. Great job.
This looks really flavorful and yummy! And I love the use of saffron… that pasta is so cute! I don’t think I’ve seen it in stores here though… Great post, Manu!
This kind of Italian dish is totally comfort food even though we are not Italian! I can eat this any day. Looks so delicious. I usually don’t use sausages to cook the sauce. I should find good quality sausages to make this.
Wish that had been my dinner !
These look like pretty little cattipillars and altogether delicious!
This looks truly delicious – I’ve never heard of this type of pasta before – must see if I can find it.
As soon as I saw this dish and read the recipe I knew I would love it. The mallordeddus looks delightful, and your tutorial is fantastic.
Ottimi! I have durum flour in the cupboard I think I might go for malloreddus…
Wow, this looks amazing – I’ve never had this dish, but the shape of the noodles and the thought of saffron make my mouth water 🙂 Great recipe!
Oh, how delectable!!! And what a unique pasta shape…love how it catches all the yummy sauce! You can do it all…brava!
This takes comfort food to a nigher level, doesn’t it? it looks magnificent on that plate. I’ve got to learn how to make these little barrels of love! 🙂
Looks amazing! Thanks for sharing! Have Buzzed You!