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Recipe Book

Sardegna

Perhaps surprisingly, the people of the island of Sardegna are not much of a seafaring bunch, and are more at home inland among the region’s wild mountainous regions. Towns near the coast, of course favor a fish based cuisine, with everything from simple red mullet and its roe to lobster on offer, whereas inland, lamb and pork rule supreme. The island’s famous ‘porceddu’, whole roast piglet, is one of it’s best known pork dishes, but all types of salami and pork products are common. The local sheep’s milk cheeses are second to none, with pecorino Sardo arriving on tables all over Italy, but younger cheeses and goat’s milk cheeses are also produced. Local bread is very good, and sweetmeats, seadas for example, normally involve the use of the island ricotta and delicious honey.

Traditional dishes:

Gnocchetti Sardi al Pomodoro: Gnocchetti Pasta with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

  • 400 g gnocchetti pasta
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 75 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 500 g tinned tomatoes, chopped
  • Few leaves of fresh basil, chopped
  • 50 g Sardinian pecorino, grated
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions until they are soft and transparent.
  • Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 – 15 minutes.
  • Season with salt.
  • Toss in the basil and cook sauce until the sauce has thickened slightly.
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta in abundant, salted water.
  • When pasta is cooked al dente, drain and add to the tomato sauce.
  • Toss well, then serve with a good sprinkling of grated pecorino.
  • As a variation, add a little crumbled sausage meat to the sauce while cooking the onion, and proceed with recipe as normal.

Number of servings (yield): 4

Linguine al Sugo di Aragosta: Linguine with Lobster Sauce

Ingredients

  • 400 g linguine
  • 1 lobster, cut into chunks
  • 75 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 small chilli pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 450 g tinned tomatoes
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic and chilli pepper.
  • When onion and garlic are soft and transparent, add the chopped lobster to the pan and sauté together for a couple of minutes.
  • Add the bay leaf and the tomatoes.
  • Season with salt.
  • Cook over a medium heat until the lobster is cooked and the sauce has thickened.
  • Meanwhile, cook the linguine in abundant, salted water until pasta is cooked al dente.
  • Drain, and add the linguine to the pan with the lobster and toss well together.
  • Serve immediately.

Number of servings (yield): 4

Gallina col Mirto: Boiling Fowl with Myrtle

Ingredients

  • 1 boiling fowl (or chicken)
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot, roughly chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
  • Handful of parsley
  • 6 juniper berries
  • Myrtle leaves
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Rinse hen and pat dry.
  • Fill a large pan with lightly salted, boiling water.
  • Place boiling fowl in the boiling water along with the onion, carrot, celery, parsley and juniper.
  • Cover pan and simmer until boiling fowl is tender.
  • Drain fowl and while it is still steaming hot, place on a large serving dish lined with myrtle leaves.
  • (Reserve broth, freezing if necessary until you need to use it.)
  • Cover fowl with more leaves and wrap the whole dish in kitchen foil.
  • Leave to cool in this way, and serve cold the following day.
  • This dish can also be prepared by steaming the fowl over a bed of myrtle and leaving it to cool, covered, in the cooking pan.

Number of servings (yield): 4

Sarde Impanate e Fritte: Fried Sardines

Ingredients

  • 1 kg very fresh, small sardines
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 75 g flour
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Salt
  • 1 lemon

Instructions

  • Clean the sardines, removing the scales, the head and the backbone, but leaving them joined at the tail.
  • Rinse and leave to drain on kitchen paper.
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan.
  • Dip the sardines into the beaten egg then into the flour and fry until golden brown on both sides.
  • Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately with a sprinkling of salt and a few lemon wedges.

Number of servings (yield): 4

Seadas: Sweet Fried Ricotta Ravioli

Ingredients

  • 250 g flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of shortening
  • 200 g ricotta
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 shot glass of mirto or grappa
  • 200 g chestnut honey
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Icing sugar

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, the grated zest of the orange and lemon and the mirto.
  • Place the flour and the salt in a large bowl, and rub in the shortening.
  • A little at a time, add enough hot water to obtain a pliable dough.
  • Roll the dough out thinly and cut out a series of 10 cm circles.
  • On half of them, place a spoonful of the ricotta filling and place the remaining circles on top, pressing firmly with your fingers or the tines of a fork to seal around the edges.
  • In a small pan, heat the honey until just melted.
  • Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep pan and fry the seadas until golden brown on both sides.
  • Drain on kitchen paper then cover in the melted honey and finish with a sprinkling of icing sugar.
  • Serve immediately.

Number of servings (yield): 4

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