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cooking up a storm at the edge of the world

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Sardinian Culurgiones Recipe

Published on August 6, 2016 • Last updated October 21, 2024 by Elizabeth
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Discover the flavours of Sardinia with culurgiones: a traditional Sardinian pasta filled with delicious ingredients.

Prep Time: 1.5 hours

Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Difficulty: Moderate

Culurgiones - Sardinian Ravioli, top down recipe photo.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • A holiday in Sardinia
  • Sardinian cuisine
  • An unimpressed Sardinian chef
  • Giant’s Tomb, Sardinia
  • What sauce to serve with culurgiones
  • Culurgiones – Sardinian Ravioli
  • Other posts you might like

A holiday in Sardinia

Many, many years ago, I had the privilege of visiting the island of Sardinia on an all-expenses-paid whirlwind weekend trip. It was the car launch for the Fiat Idea, and I was a plus one. Let me tell you, I have never been so wined and dined in my life!

The irony was that I didn’t even have a driving license at the time, and here I was on one of Italy’s most stunning islands, being driven about in a recently launched Italian car.

This trip was probably the moment I officially fell in love with food and learned to embrace and savour new tastes and textures.

Up until this point, I disliked olives intensely. I would pick them out of whatever food I was eating and stubbornly refuse to entertain the notion of eating them (quite like how my children often behave when introduced to a new food!). However, during this trip, I was introduced to so many new dishes that I couldn’t help but get swept up in the atmosphere and immerse myself completely—well, almost.

Sardinia - Porto Cervo Hotel Breakfast

Sardinian cuisine

We were staying in a hotel in Porto Cervo, right on the shores of the Mediterranean. A dawn chorus woke me, birds chirping in the bushes across the water.

That breakfast, oh my goodness. It was the first time I’d ever tried blood oranges—I’d never even heard of them before then, and I was intrigued by their gorgeous red-orange colour. The taste of that freshly squeezed juice lingers in my memory. I have not tasted fresh blood oranges since as I can’t obtain the fruit on my remote North Sea island home.

I fell in love with olives, cheese, bread, and wine. As part of the car launch, we had to drive a circuit around the island, stopping frequently to sample the local delicacies.

This was long before I began taking food photographs, and I can’t believe I only have one food photo of my entire trip there: a photograph of the tuna lunch we were served. The lunch that I turned my nose up at because I couldn’t stomach the idea of eating nearly raw fish.

Sardinia - Seared Tuna for lunch

An unimpressed Sardinian chef

I was still feeling the effects of the copious wine from the night before. We’d been treated to this fantastic eight-course meal (I still have the menu somewhere in a closet). This feast included suckling pig, tiny whole baby octopus, seafood, pasta, and desserts, and the wine was flowing. The waiters would top up your glass as soon as you turned your back. I had no idea how much I’d consumed.

The following day, I just couldn’t face the thought of raw fish with a hangover. I nibbled a bit of the salad, ate the pickled figs, and the waiter cleared the table. I wasn’t much of a seafood fan then (unlike now). So, faced with what looked to me like massively undercooked, bordering on raw seafood, I baulked.

Then the chef came out of the kitchen and asked me what was wrong with the dish! He was not impressed with me. I mumbled something about not being hungry, wishing the floor would open up and swallow me whole. I can still feel the burn of my blushing today!

Suppose I could only go back in time with my current love of food; how I would lick that plate clean! That tuna is cooked to perfection!

Sardinia - Giants Tomb

Giant’s Tomb, Sardinia

One of the places we stopped (most of my photos are blurry landscape shots from a moving car) was at a Giant’s Tomb. This remarkable archaeology dates back to the  Bronze Age and the Nuragic civilization.

It was February when I was there. One thing that stood out in my memory was raining mud. A dust storm had swept across the Mediterranean from Morocco, causing the sky to take on a brownish hue. The delicate, talc-like sand was falling in raindrops. This was causing much stress for the men trying to keep the cars clean for presentable car launch publicity photographs.

Here you go, a rare and elusive face photograph of me in all my slightly hung-over glory. The Fiat Idea was launched in 2003, so it’s a pretty old photo. You can see the fine mud drops on the bonnet of the car.

Fiat Idea Car Launch 2002
Sardinia - Porto Cervo

Fast forward thirteen years, and my eldest son and I spent a wonderful hour together preparing culurgiones.

Culurgiones are filled dough pockets similar to ravioli. I was inspired by this recipe.

The dough, filling, and sauce are remarkably easy to make. The trick is to get the stitching process correct so that each filled pocket resembles a wheat sheaf.

Making curgurliones, traditional Sardinian ravioli
Making curgurliones, traditional Sardinian ravioli
Making curgurliones, traditional Sardinian ravioli
Making curgurliones, traditional Sardinian ravioli

I watched this video tutorial about 50 times, I swear. Start at 56 seconds and watch over and over again following along with a culurgione in your hand.

I persevered and my culurgiones began to look more and more like they were supposed to.

Making curgurliones, traditional Sardinian ravioli

What sauce to serve with culurgiones

Since the recipe I used for inspiration didn’t provide the sauce, I asked the only Italian person I knew. He used to spend a month of his childhood summers camping on the island of Sardinia. His parents used to have friends who lived there. He gave me the recipe his mother used to make, for which I am very grateful.

It’s a very simple recipe, but the key is to use fresh, good-quality ingredients. I used fresh basil and garlic grown by my local CSA veg box providers. For the sauce, I used some Cirio passata. The extra virgin olive oil I used was grown by Antonio in the Campania region of southern Italy. It’s distributed by Pomora. I delivered their extra virgin olive oil just the other day. Gorgeous stuff.

Culurgiones - Sardinian Ravioli

I am told that culurgiones are served with only a little bit of tomato sauce. There should still be some white of the pasta showing through the sauce. The way I’ve served them is likely far from traditional. I thought it was rather pretty, and I like putting my twist on things.

In true Italian style, we invited a neighbour over for dinner. He thought it was one of the best meals he’d ever had—restaurant quality, he raved.

I beamed.

Culurgiones - Sardinian Ravioli

Recipe Difficulty Levels

Easy

Requires basic cooking skills and ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.

Moderate

Requires more experience, preparation and/or cooking time. You may have to source special ingredients.

Challenging

Recipes requiring more advanced skills and experience and maybe some special equipment.

Culurgiones - Sardinian Ravioli

Culurgiones – Sardinian Ravioli

Discover the flavours of Sardinia with culurgiones: a traditional Sardinian pasta filled with delicious ingredients.
Enjoyed the recipe? Leave a rating!
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes
Resting/Cooling Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 80 culurgiones
Calories: 51kcal
Author: Elizabeth

Ingredients

Metric – US Cup Measures

for the pasta dough

  • 250 grams semolina
  • 250 grams Italian ’00’ pasta flour
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil I use Pomora
  • 1 tsp Shetland sea salt
  • 150 ml lukewarm water

for the filling

  • 800 grams potatoes unpeeled weight
  • 50 grams ricotta cheese
  • 50 grams Pecorino romano cheese (or Parmesan cheese)
  • 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large garlic clove finely chopped

for the tomato sauce

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 540 grams passata rustica
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves torn

to serve

  • fresh basil leaves torn
  • Pecorino romano cheese

Affiliate Links

This recipe card may contain affiliate ingredient and equipment links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment

1 pasta machine
1 round cutter
1 large cooking pot
1 potato masher
1 sieve
Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

  • First prepare the filling. Peel and cube 800 grams potatoes and cook in boiling, salted water until tender – about 15-20 minutes. Drain and return to the heat for a few minutes to evaporate some more of the liquid.
  • Rice the potatoes with a potato ricer or pass them through a fine sieve.
  • Add 50 grams ricotta cheese, 50 grams Pecorino romano cheese, 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves (finely chopped), 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped, and stir well. Set aside for an hour, at room temperature, to cool.
  • To prepare the pasta dough whisk together 250 grams Italian ’00’ pasta flour and 250 grams semolina until combined. Add 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 tsp Shetland sea salt and add about 100 ml of 150 ml lukewarm water, adding a tablespoon at a time of the remaining water until a dough forms.
  • Knead for two minutes until smooth and elastic, adding a little bit more water at a time if needed. I just dipped my fingers into the water to add it to the dough.
  • Cover in cling film and leave for half an hour.
  • Cut the dough into two equal portions and run each half through a pasta machine, starting with the thickest setting. Fold the dough into thirds and run through the thickest setting again. Repeat, if needed, to get an even width of pasta. Run the dough through the machine again a few more times, selecting a thinner setting for each run. I rolled mine until it was at the second thinnest setting.
  • Using an 8 cm round cutter (I used a glass tumbler) cut the dough into circles and place on a floured surface.
  • Place a heaped teaspoonful of the potato filling into the centre of each pasta round.
  • Cup the round in the palm of your hand like a taco shape. Pinch about 1 cm of the end together. Push the pinched dough in and slightly to the left, folding the edge of the dough into a bend and pinch that in and slightly over. Repeat on the other side. (Watch the video link above to see how to do this).
  • Continue pinching and folding the dough over and down all the way up to the top of the dough and pinch the end closed. You will have a filled pocket resembling a wheat sheaf. Set aside on a floured surface and repeat with the remaining circles.
  • Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and boil the culurgiones in batches for five minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan and gently fry 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped, for a minute or so until its aroma is released. Add 540 grams passata rustica and cook for three minutes.
  • Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in 1 handful fresh basil leaves, roughly torn.
  • Serve the culurgiones immediately with a little bit of the sauce with extra fresh basil leaves and grated Pecorino romano cheese.
  • Leftover culurgiones can be frozen for later. Simply cook from frozen.

Notes

There are regional variations of this dish. Some add gently fried onions to the filling. Others use fresh tomatoes in the sauce, in which case cook them for 8-10 minutes only.

Nutrition

Calories: 51kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 83mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 44IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg

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Category: Adventure, Carbohydrates, Italy, Pasta, RecipeTag: culurgiones, Italy, James Villas, pasta, ravioli, Sardinia

About Elizabeth

Solivagant. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

Previous Post:Herbed Potato Picnic BannocksHerbed Potato Bannocks
Next Post:Mediterranean Couscous SaladClose up image of mediterranean couscous salad.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Platter Talk

    October 13, 2016 at 5:10 am

    Totally beautiful shots. I love the folds in your ravioli, which I’ve never seen done before! Thanks!!! I’m going to try being a copy cat on this recipe. Wish me luck!

    Reply
  2. Kavey

    October 6, 2016 at 8:51 am

    These look gorgeous, your shaping skills are amazing. They sound delicious too!

    Reply
  3. Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche

    August 30, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    These sound gorgeous, just my sort of thing! I’m so impressed with your neat folding – loved the comparison photo of your first and last attempt 🙂 And loved seeing the old photo of you as well – I adore your long hair!

    Reply
  4. Kerry Norris

    August 11, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    This dish looks yummy. Very envious of your trip. Sorry to hear your boy was ill when you returned. Sod’s law isn’t it x

    Reply
  5. Ana

    August 10, 2016 at 11:53 am

    That looks super delicious! I would love to try this out when im making lunch and thank you for proving the recipes and tutorials.

    Reply
  6. Stella

    August 10, 2016 at 9:22 am

    I am loving the look of this dish. Looks yummy. And I am happy to see your face

    Reply
  7. Laura @dearbearandbeany

    August 10, 2016 at 6:39 am

    That is high praise indeed from your neighbour, you can’t ask more than that! I love the finish on the pasts, so pretty. looks delicious x

    Reply
  8. Anosa

    August 9, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    Kia 2003, to think that was over 10 years ago lol.
    I love ravioli, you prepared it really deliciously and looks amazing

    Reply
  9. Lyndsey O'Halloran

    August 9, 2016 at 1:06 pm

    Oh this is incredibly pretty! Everything looks lovely and easy to make apart from the actual pasta! I fear I’m too heavy handed and impatient to make it look that nice.

    Reply
  10. Newcastle Family Life

    August 9, 2016 at 11:28 am

    That looks amazing, almost too good to eat! My partner adores blood oranges too, although we too find them hard to buy here in Newcastle. I would love to visit Sardina one day xx

    Reply
  11. Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy

    August 8, 2016 at 5:36 pm

    Sardinia is high on my list of places to visit, and even more so with meals like this. it just looks so light and fresh.

    Reply
  12. Rhian Westbury

    August 8, 2016 at 4:55 pm

    These have come out so nice, and I can’t believe what an amazing trip you had. I sadly still can’t get into olives but give me cheese and wine and I’m fine x

    Reply
  13. yvonne

    August 8, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    Wow these look so impressive. The finish is incredible! I would love to try it out but I am guessing it won’t look anywhere near as good as this xxxx

    Reply
  14. Kate - gluten free alchemist

    August 7, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    Wow! They’re perfect! Well done…… You did a great job and with a great recipe. x

    Reply
  15. Nikki

    August 7, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    Well done on mastering th3 ravioli. Im not sure that i would have had the patience to keep at it. It looks yummy!

    Reply
  16. Jordanne | Thelifeofaglasgowgirl

    August 7, 2016 at 11:02 am

    The dish looks super yummy! I’d love to have a go at this so bookmarking this for future reference. Also, I’m well jealous of you going to Porto Cervical!

    Jordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk

    Reply
  17. ali

    August 7, 2016 at 8:46 am

    wow, sounds amazing. I’m pinning to make these but I doubt they’ll look anything like yours!

    Reply
  18. Toni @ Gym Bunny Mummy

    August 7, 2016 at 8:22 am

    Oh wow, I’ve never seen pasta look so beautiful. I love the finish!

    Reply

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Cooking up a storm at the edge of the world

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