“These pasta dumplings are traditionally made in Sardinia around the time of the wheat harvest. The pattern of folds which seal in the potato, mint and pecorino filling resembles the shape of a head of wheat,” says Pilloni’s head chef Pietro Segalini.
Here’s how to make Pilloni’s culurgiones recipe, plus a helpful video on how to fold culurgiones above.
Ingredients
Method
For pasta dough, place semolina, olive oil and 230ml water in a food processor and process until a dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly dusted surface and knead until smooth and elastic (5 minutes). Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in fridge (1 hour).
For filling, bring potato and a generous amount of cold salted water to the boil in a large saucepan; cook until potatoes are tender (15-20 minutes). Drain in a colander, return to pan to evaporate excess water (5 minutes), mash until smooth. Cool slightly, then stir in remaining ingredients. Season; cool completely.
Bring pasta dough to room temperature (1 hour). To laminate pasta, divide dough into 4 equal pieces, then, working with one piece at a time and covering remaining dough with damp tea towel, flatten it with a rolling pin or palm of your hand. Dust lightly with semolina and gently feed through pasta machine, starting at widest setting.
Fold the two ends of the dough towards each other, then rotate dough 90 degrees and feed through pasta machine again (this is called laminating, and creates a strong, structured dough). Laminate once or twice on widest setting, then continue to feed dough through machine, reducing settings notch by notch, until pasta is 2mm thick (3-4 times depending on pasta machine). Repeat process with remaining dough, then fold and place in a single layer on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover until ready to use.
Working with one sheet at a time, using an 8cm-round cutter, cut out 6-7 rounds. Place 1½ tbsp filling at centre of each round, then pinch and fold base to seal it on one side. Keep pinching and folding the extremities to seal top of dumpling, working as you would a braid, first on one side and then on the other, until you’ve reached other side. Discard any filling that does not fit. Place finished culurgiones on a tray lined with baking paper. Re-roll remaining dough and repeat with filling. Makes 40.
Cook culurgiones in boiling water until they float to the surface (3-4 minutes). Drain and serve with warmed passata, fried mint or basil and grated pecorino.
For the simple tomato sauce in this curlugiones recipe, we used Mutti Passata.
Note
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