The Cooking and Cuisine of Sardinia

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Many thanks! So it is basically fettucine tossed with lobster sauce? no layering, baking and all that jazz??

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Well, I confess to altering this recipe when I made it... just thought you might want the original. What I did was make homemade lasagna noodles, rather than fettucini, and I did, indeed, layer & bake it. I kinda followed the sauce recipe, but we like vodka sauce, especially if there's seafood involved, so I did that. I wanted cheese, but was afraid mozzarella would be too heavy, so I used coarse-grated myzithra instead. I thought it was pretty amazing, personally... and Mom loved it. The potates were an unusual complement to lobster; I wasn't sure about it at first, but gave it a shot and it worked well, I thought.

I don't imagine it came out extremely authentic, with all my changes, but we enjoyed it... and that's what matters in the end, right?

[Shaya]

Shaya, your formula looks perfectly ....normal, average. I'm wondering, along with Pontormo and Kevin, if the semolina grains may have been too large, or if a little blending would have helped. The other comment is that when I've made that type of pasta, I use a thinner "base". Meaning that the little pea that you use to roll on the board, you press it so hard that you almost press thru the pasta, you feel a bit of warmth from the friction and your thumb either starts to hurt or you have a nicely developed callus. Does that make sense? They don't end up looking as beautiful and uniform as yours, however.

Last night we had a Sardinian inspired "agnello humido". Basically a braised leg of lamb with lots of spices (juniper, allspice, cinnamon etc), served over a basic cheese ravioli with sheep milk ricotta and chopped mint. Tasted good. Seriously funky looking!

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Wish I could see your lamb and ravioli dish, it sounds awesome.

Ironically I used an even finer-grained flour than the other few times, it was very powdery. I know what you mean about pressing these guys really thin - I re-pressed many of them after the first go-round but I guess it wasn't enough. Only the outer layer cooked, the rest stayed dry and icky. Oh well, I will put it behind me and hopefully step into the kitchen again soon...

[Shaya]

Kevin, your dinner looks great. I have gnocchi envy - I would have settled for "toothsome"! The sauce for your meat sounds amazing. My little guy was pretend-cooking in bed this morning and he made a sauce with chocolate, cinnamon and vinegar - pretty funny.

[FoodMan]

Kevin, your dinner looks great.  I have gnocchi envy - I would have settled for "toothsome"!  The sauce for your meat sounds amazing.  My little guy was pretend-cooking in bed this morning and he made a sauce with chocolate, cinnamon and vinegar - pretty funny.

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I agree Kevin...it all looks great. Can you elaborate on the sweet and sour sauce a little more, for, er....research purposes . Some proportions would be great.

As for the Lobster lasagna, I am sure it came out great and I see no reason why it cannot be layered and baked for a very short time using the sauce provided in the recipe. I might give it a try. Thanks again.

[NYC Mike]

Ok, so I'm totally  .

Those gnocchis that I've been dreaming about eating for 24 hours, well, they just won't cook.  I boiled and boiled them  - only the outside cooked.  Then I cut them in half.  Same story.  Then I sliced them further, and popped them into the meat sauce, thinking that would help.  Still not cooking inside.  I've made them a few times before and never had this problem.  The stuff is like concrete, only the outside gets moist, the inside stays nice and dry.  What could have gone wrong?

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I am so sorry, that sucks!

Looks like a gnocci board is something I need, Kevin those look amazing!! Imperia used to make a cavetelli/gnocci attachment for the machine we have but I can't find it anywhere, oh well.

Edited June 5, 2006 by NYC Mike (log)

[Kevin72]

I agree Kevin...it all looks great. Can you elaborate on the sweet and sour sauce a little more, for, er....research purposes  . Some proportions would be great.

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1 cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

3 oz each: prunes, chopped; bitter chocolate, sultanas

1/2 stick cinnamon

2-3 dried bay leaves

Put the sugar, vinegar and bay leaves in a sauce pan, bring to a simmer and dissolve the sugar. Let it reduce a little. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened.

As for the Lobster lasagna, I am sure it came out great and I see no reason why it cannot be layered and baked for a very short time using the sauce provided in the recipe. I might give it a try. Thanks again.

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Side note: I love those "lazy lasagna" dishes where you just serve the sheets with a sauce and don't bake 'em. There's one for Mario's Sicily shows, and I was going to do a similar dish from Plotkin's Liguria book before we ran out of time.

Thanks for the compliments on the dinner, everyone.

[FoodMan]

Kevin, I found a similar recipe in Molto Italiano for wild boar with sweet and sour sauce. I think this Saturday's dinner is decided .

[Pontormo]

Well, I made my first Sardinian meal, although it will have to be reported in stages since I actually ate a Ligurian primo with a Sardinian secondo...and a light white Rioja since Iberian/Spanish influences on the region's cuisine are noted. The Sardinian primo was frozen to be consumed tonight.

Ravioli di Carciofi al Profumo di Timo

This was extraordinary, really one of the best things I have cooked this year and a perfect complement to the dish that followed. I will post a brief note in the Ligurian thread and urge you to try it some time. I thought I had grown tired of artichokes, but this restored my faith in them.

Pollo con Finocchio, Olive e Vino Bianco served as the main course. The photograph of the raw ingredients on the Rustico web site does no justice to the dish which is beautiful roasted with browned chicken flesh (NOT skin), little black olives and luscious chunks of soft fennel, transparent after soaking in all the pan juices, olive oil and wine. Absolutely perfect with good, crusty bread to soak up what the fennel did not.

While fennel appears in numerous late medieval illuminated manuscripts whose text is devoted to health (Tacuinum Sanitatis), it was not the sweet variety of the vegetable that was cultivated in Italy at a later date.* By the sixteenth century, it appears in Scappi's numerous menus for banquets, and apparently enjoys great popularity in Sardinia. Ada Boni also offers a Sardinian recipe of sardines with fennel.

One of the beauties of this dish is that all the ingredients are cut up ahead of time and left to marinade, something that can be done the night before and then popped into the oven the next day as soon as it's heated. What I appreciated is the inclusion of the fennel fronds, although I'd advise buying at least one extra fennel bulb to add since it's the best part, and reserving some of its fronds as garnish.

Melone d' Atene for dessert, followed by just a little Stracciatella di lampone (Haagen Dasz).

*"Fennel (Feniculus)" at http://metamedia.stanford.edu/traumwerk/in...%20,(Feniculus), consulted June 7, 2006.

Edited June 7, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Kevin72]

The link for the chicken and fennel doesn't seem to be working . . . so is it just braised in its own marinade, no browning or separate aromatic cooking?

I've done some light research into Sardinian breads. Root mentions what a bread-eating culture they are in Foods of Italy but also gives the impression that these aren't too different from the standard crusty loaves. Carol Field's Italian Baker has, curiously, not one Sardinian bread recipe in it, not even for curasau. Culinaria has a page in its Sardinian chapter devoted to the breads of the region, but really doesn't give much specifics. There's a picture of a crusty round loaf, and they also mention a version of ciabatta commonly being consumed.

[Pontormo]

Kevin, I just mended the link. Very simple, quick and good.

Thanks for references on bread.

[Kevin72]

From a side discussion on stuffed pasta in the in the Liguria thread:

C'mon, hathor, let's help bigjas out here. What was wrong with them before?

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well, it was kind of a long time ago, but the problem was the edges. they were thick, and dry, although the rest of the pasta and filling were cooked.

as i said, i don't have a pasta machine, so i'm rolling them out by hand. that's what's made me nervous about making homemade pasta ever since.

i did buy semolina flour a couple of weeks ago on a whim, not sure what i was going to do with it. you think it'll be screwy with this? what's the difference, when it comes to cooking these things?

i may just follow kevin's kall there.

actually the other day i found a recipe for this that had fiore sardo in the filling, and grated pecorino on top, and of course i can't find it today.

leaving work now to go start SOMETHING....

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With the issue with the edges, maybe the recipe called for you to use egg whites to seal the edges which may have given that effect? Still, I'd be worried about the semolina dough being too firm to roll out thin enough (if you're not as experienced in these areas) and they may not stick together as well.

You COULD also, kinda like FoodMan was talking about above, make just the sheets of pasta, cut them into squares, boil them, then spoon some of the filling in between layers and then sauce the whole with tomato sauce. Kind of a "lazy man's ravioli". It'd sure help on time and reduce alot of the error factor with making stuffed pasta.

[mrbigjas]

excellent idea, kevin.

actually i found the recipe i was looking at last night. i thought the lard in the dough was kinda weird. but the cheese combos looked good. it's here:

http://english.incucina.tv/ricette/2968/29...905/ricetta.asp

[Kevin72]

If you go that route, I still wouldn't put egg or flour in the filling, but now you actually would want it to be a little wet to sauce the dough. And, you can go back to using the semolina combo in the original recipe, just be sure you get enough water in the dough.

[mrbigjas]

well, i went ahead and did it anyways, and dinner still came out just after 8. not too late after all.

turns out the ricotta i get is dense as hell, and needs no draining whatsoever. i wrapped it in cheesecloth and weighted it with a bacon press, and after about 15 minutes when not a drop had come out, i gave up.

so i went somewhere between the two recipes, making a chard/ricotta/pecorino filling, and making the semolina/AP/saffron/egg pasta. i scaled it back some since there are only two of us.

i might have overwatered the pasta a little bit, because it was soft and easy to roll, even a little sticky--it took all the flour i threw at it while making the ravioli, which i rolled out by hand. ok truth be told, knowing that sardinian ravioli are often round, i had a secret tool on the side in case my rolling didn't go well: a tortilla press, which i saw martin yan use to make very thin dumpling wrappers one time.

but i didn't use it.

but anyway, it wasn't overly mushy or anything. in fact, it was damn good if i do say so myself. the forming of the ravioli is totally amateurish, as you might imagine, but they tasted good. i sauced them with a fresh tomato sauce, grated some fiore sardo and chopped up some basil and mint on them. take a look-see:

as far as the filling: i feel like it could have used an egg. not so much for binding, but because the ricotta was so thick and pasty that even the chard couldn't touch it. or maybe because i squeezed out the chard TOO well--i feel like the egg would have added a little wetness.

but anyway, it was fun, and not hard, and i thank y'all for the advice. i knew i'd have to get over my fear of fresh pasta sometime. i'm a level or two below you guys when it comes to knowing about these things and cooking them, but i'm working on catching up...

(the wine was a cheap cannonau that i found over at the gargantuan store called total wine over in jersey, one of two or three sardinian wines that specifically mentioned that they were from there. luckily they were all around $10 so i just got all three bottles. and now i find out that cannonau is a grenache clone, which would explain why i was so happy swilling it.)

Edited June 8, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[NYC Mike]

Wow! Great spread Mrbigjas! The ravioli look amazing!

How did you like the cannonau, $10 bucks, what a steal? Would you buy it again? Is it a very similar to spanish grenache? I am still looking for an under $20 to try.

Pontormo, the chicken with fennel sounds like a keeper. I am new to fennel and love it and the smell it gives off when cut and have been using it in lots of things this month. I could use a few do ahead and just throw in the oven dishes, it has been getting a little heavy rolling up the sleeves to cook dinner everynight. Thanks!

-Mike

[mrbigjas]

Wow!  Great spread Mrbigjas!  The ravioli look amazing!

thanks--what the pic doesn't capture is how intensely yellow they were. i used the last of my local pennsylvania saffron for the dough. apparently back in the day PA used to be known regionally for its saffron production, and indeed it's good. makes for a really interestingly-flavored dough, too..

How did you like the cannonau, $10 bucks, what a steal?  Would you buy it again?  Is it a very similar to spanish grenache?  I am still looking for an under $20 to try.

yeah, not too far off from a spanish grenache, actually. not quite as fruity as some of them can be--a little rough around the edges but not unpleasantly so. i really enjoyed it.

Pontormo, the chicken with fennel sounds like a keeper.

i thought the same thing, and put some in to marinate last night...

[Pontormo]

Bravo, MrBigJas!

The ravioli look so impressive, doubly so since you rolled them by hand! I hope your efforts were appreciated.

So the semolina flour DID work after all? I confess that after Shaya's experience, I was in agreement with his cautionary remarks.

I actually made the same thing very late Tuesday and froze it, however, I think they're just fine, nothing truly memorable and probably due to both substitutions and omissions. I used a round cookie cutter to shape them and as I mentioned in the Ligurian thread, this made the process a lot quicker than it had been using the twee ravioli mold that produced my superior artichoke ravioli.

The "official" name is Culingiones and I consulted several sources to make them. Ada Boni provides the most traditional recipe and I have to admit I overlooked the request for the pinch of saffron which I really should have included. (I love paella, but otherwise would live happily ever after without risotto Milanese, etc.) A pinch would not have bothered me and might have added SOMETHING.

Actually, what I should have ignored is the recipe by Anna Martini since it's rather dull. I suspect this regional cookbook is just not very good; I consulted the flap that says something to the effect that the dishes have been passed down for generations and updated for the modern cook. Had I read that in the library, I might have put it back on the shelves.

I used a bunch of chard and another of beet greens. I forgot to pick up a young Pecorino cheese and somehow got it into my head that I read that Ricotta Salata is used to fill pasta. Since it is mild and is made from sheep's milk.... As you'd imagine, though, the chalky texture was less than ideal during the spoon and fill stage. I also had fewer eggs than I needed since I had made two different fillings for dough with three cups of flour and only five eggs in the house. I would have liked the filling more had I sauteed the chopped greens in butter with minced onion and a little garlic before adding an herb and/or the saffron since the pinch of nutmeg just didn't perk up the greens enough.

They were pretty. I did like the round shape, the dough and the light tomato sauce with basil were both good.

This was dinner, no secondo, though I agree, the chicken was great. (I was surprised by the lack of browning, too, but had prepared a Mexican pork stew in the oven a while ago that was based on similar principles and loved the results.)

[Kevin72]

Way to go, Bigjas! Glad it all turned out, sorry about my egg advice, , but I still think that it may have made the filling still more dry . . . maybe an egg yolk or two would work, but the white I think makes it congeal too much.

[mrbigjas]

So the semolina flour DID work after all?  I confess that after Shaya's experience, I was in agreement with his cautionary remarks.

yep. i did the dough with about 50/50 semolina (this was white semolina flour, really very finely ground) and AP, totalling just over a cup. one small egg. saffron dissolved in about 2T hot water. then when things were lookin dry, i added about another tablespoon or two of water. i started in the food processor, then kneaded it for a little while, adding some flour till it didn't stick and was the texture that seemed right, then rested for about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. when i first started rolling it out, the dough sprang back enough to make me nervous, but then it just kinda gave up, and rolled out really nicely.

Way to go, Bigjas! Glad it all turned out, sorry about my egg advice,  , but I still think that it may have made the filling still more dry . . . maybe an egg yolk or two would work, but the white I think makes it congeal too much.

thanks for the tips--i don't think it's your fault; i think it's the ricotta i got.

i have some filling left over; i may experiment with it tonight.

[hathor]

Ciao tutti! Those ravioli look just beautiful, Mrbigjas! You absolutely do not need a pasta roller machine, doing it by hand gives you a much better feel for working with the dough, in my very humble slow food, opinion. I also love cannonau.

Chicken and fennel sounds like a great combination. I adore fennel, its so adaptable, and when you serve it, you always get a "mmmm, what's this" reaction.

I'm heading back to the land of dial up, so I'll have lots of cheap cannonau and access to all sorts of ingredients, but no high speed internet. I know you all feel real sorry for me.

Guess I'll have to make some stuffed pasta later this week, all this is making me very hungry!!

[FoodMan]

On Saturday we had our first Sardinian meal,

Started with a primo of those "toothsome" Malloredus. They were very simple to make and sauced simply with fresh chopped tomatoes, fennel seeds, ricotta and garlic. They were topped with crumbly sheep Pecorino and fresh homemade ricotta. The recipe for the Malloredus and their sauce is from Molto Italiano.

Here is a pic of the ready to cook dumplings. I love the color of those things and especially the specks of saffron in there. They were toothsome and not fluffy like potato or ricotta gnocchi, but certainly not rubbery or chewy.

The sauced Malloredus in the pan

and plated

The main course was "Boar in sweet and sour sauce". Unfortunatly my butcher only had boar chops and no boar shoulder, so I followed MArio's recommendation to sub pork butt for the boar in Molto Italiano. The sauce like Kevin's, had vinegar, chocolate, raisins...The meat was also marinated for about 2 days before cooking. A very good dish and not too strong on the sweet or the sour portions. Considering it's ingredients it is no surprise that it reminded me of Mexican red mole sauce.

Contorno was a simple dish of stuffed yellow summer squash. Stuffing was bread crumbs, pecorino, herbs and some olive oil.

I was hoping to make some fried Sardinian ricotta ravioli for dessert, but I did not have the time between watching World Cup matches

[Pontormo]

Gorgeous food, Elie! While you really seem to have a gift when it comes to preparing anything with flour (I am recalling your watercress pasta at the moment), I am wondering if you had any problems with the semolina or advice for handling eggless, fat-free dough.

It seems that certain regional threads inspire us to cook the same dish, such as maro when we were in Liguria. It looks as if malloreddus are the hit of Sardinia.

Molto Italiano is a bit inconsistent about listing regions and their dishes in the index. In the case of Sardinian specialties, there are only two grouped together even though the book includes more, such as fregole with clams.

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For the record, the woman who sold me Pantaleon as a Sardinian cheese was mistaken. No wonder this Spanish-sounding word could not be found in any Sardinian web sites.

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The recipes in Marlena de Blasi's recent book on Southern Italian food are extremely interesting and often distinctive; she features recipes not found elsewhere instead of faithfully including familiar dishes just because they're representative. It looks as if she gets a bit impressionistic at times, creating recipes based on regional traditions that are not, strictly speaking, "authentic." However, they ALL look worth making and are definitely within the spirit of the region, using traditional combinations of ingredients and techniques. There are two from Sardinia that I intend to make later in the week.

I was also interested in the discovery that pastries, cookies and other forms of baked desserts ARE traditionally served at the end of Sardinian meals, and not just separately for breakfast, Sunday visits, or quick trips to the bar for coffee.

Edited June 12, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[FoodMan]

Well, I honestly followed the recipe here, no tips or tricks. I would maybe adivce to start with a little less flour than recommended and add more as needed. Hope that helps.

[Brad Ballinger]

If I thought I didn’t have much to contribute regarding the wines of Liguria, then I’m fooling myself thinking I have anything to contribute regarding the wines of Sardinia. But I’ll give it a shot, anyway.

One would think, given multiple demands on the limited amount of land, that island countries or territories would have limited wine production. That’s not necessarily the case. If one examined the acreage devoted to grape growing for the world’s most renowned wine regions, one might be surprised at how small they actually are. Conversely, one might be surprised to learn that Sardinia has 19 DOC wines, 16 IGT wines (the most IGT wines of any region in Italy) and 1 DOCG wine. Also, surprisingly perhaps, the number of vineyards on Sardinia has decreased dramatically in recent years as the island has decided to focus on quality rather than quantity.

The highest quality wine (if you go solely by the DOCG designation) is Vermentino di Gallura, a dry white wine made from vermentino grapes grown on Sardinia’s northern tip. Vermentino produces fragrant wines (and “fragrant” might be seen by some to be a euphemism for odorous when it comes to some vermetino wines). The vermentino wines from Sardinia are fuller-bodied and not quite as acidic as those from Liguria.

Moscato is widely planted, producing sweet still and sparkling wines. In fact, there’s a Moscato di Sardegna DOC, which applies to the entire island, in addition to two other DOCs for Moscato. Likewise, there is plenty of malvasia to be found. But the most popular white grape on Sardinia is nuragus, which makes Nuragus di Cagliari DOC wines. Cagliari refers to almost the entire southern half of Sardinia. The wines are somewhat nondescript – easy quaffing wines you don’t have to think about that offer just enough crispness and nothing distracting in their flavor profile.

But the oddest duck among the white wines of Sardinia (and perhaps also including red wines) are the Vernaccia di Oristano DOC wines made from vernaccia grapes grown along the western coast of the island. The wines are aged for a minimum of 29 months in wood and the riserva wines are aged for 48 months. They also come in liquoroso (fortified) versions, but even the normale versions smell and taste sherry-like. The non-fortified versions are also more popular and interesting.

Many of the red wines are made from cannonau (related to grenache), with some made from carignano and some from monica. As is the case with many island nations, and many parts of Italy, both dry and sweet versions are made. But the dry ones are more popular and easier to find. If you want to dry something unique among the red wines of Sardinia, if you can find it, seek out a sweet red Giro di Cagliari DOC wine. There are liquoroso and non-liquoroso versions, but the liquorosi have the better reputation.

That’s the discourse based on some research. My experience, on the other hand, is rather limited. I have had the Vernaccia di Oristano wines on a number of occasions and can comment that the enjoyment of them is an acquired taste and one has to be in the right frame of mind. I’ve also had Vermentino di Gallura wines that I’ve enjoyed quite a bit. I’ve had cannonau wines that I’ve also enjoyed. Arguably, the most widely exported producer of Sardinian wines is Argiolas. You can find the popular and inexpensive Costera (made from cannonau) and Perdera (made from monica) with ease, which I prefer to the more expensive and modern-tasting Turriga.

[Kevin72]

Foodman, I like how you flattened your malloreddus; it probably helped them cook a little more evenly and quickly. Was that part of the recipe?

I have to say I wasn't so into the baked zucchini I made for my similar meal last week.

Brad, thanks as always for the insight on the wines on the region, and that was one hell of a contribution for you thinking you didn't have anything to contribute for Sardinia!

Oddly, the Vermentinos of Sardinia are more accessible here at least than the Vermentinos of Liguria, so I've used them before to accompany Ligurian meals, as well. Too, there's a Sardinian restaurant in Dallas that uses its own wine vintage that you can buy, but it's a bit pricey for my tastes (like their restaurant )