Malloreddus alla Campidanese (Sardinian Gnocchi with Pork Ragù)
Malloreddus alla Campidanese (Sardinian Gnocchi with Pork Ragù)
Malloreddus a.k.a. gnocchetti sardi tucked under a porky, tomato-saffron ragù.
Equipment
- Cavatelli maker
- Bench scraper
- 7.5 Quart Enameled Dutch Oven
- 5 Quart Stainless Steel Saucier
- Digital Pocket Scale
- Large Digital Scale
- 12 qt Stock pot
- Pastry Cutter
- 12 in Carbon Steel Skillet
- Spider Strainer
Ingredients
Sardinian Pork Sausage
- 2 lb ground pork (my sausage weighed 973 g / 2.1 lb)
- 0.46 % whole fennel seed (4.5 g based on the weight of my sausage)
- 0.41 % Aleppo pepper (4 g based on the weight of my sausage)
- 1 % paprika (10 g based on the weight of my sausage)
- 2 % salt (19.46 g based on the weight of my sausage)
Malloreddus
- 300 g semola di grano duro (durum wheat semolina - double milled)
- 150 g warm water
- A pinch of salt
- ½ tsp saffron threads crushed
- Tipo “00” flour for dusting
Pork Ragù
- 2, 28 oz cans of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes with basil
- 1 cup water (from the tomato can)
- 1 cup white onion, diced
- 4 bay leaves, fresh
- ½ tsp saffron threads
- 5 whole Calabrian chiles in oil (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh garlic minced
- 1 cup fino sherry or very dry sherry
- Sardinian Pork sausage sautéed
- 1½ cups Parmigiano Reggiano finely grated
- Black pepper freshly cracked to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp hot honey (optional) (substitute 2 tsp of granulated sugar)
Finishing steps
- Malloreddus
- 5-6 quarts of water lightly salted to boil malloreddus
- Pasta water
- Pork ragù
- MSG to taste
- Black pepper freshly cracked to taste
- Salt to taste
- Parmigiano Reggiano finely grated, to taste
Instructions
Sardinian Pork sausage
- 2 hours or up to the night before you make the ragù, weigh the ground pork and measure out the weight of the spices based on the percentages listed in the ingredients section. For example, 2% salt for 100 grams of sausage is 2 grams. Combine the spices in a spice grinder and blend them to a powder or do the same in a mortar and pestle. Add the ground spices to the ground pork and mix thoroughly by hand. Let the sausage marinate in the fridge.
- The day you make the ragù, brown the sausage in nice size clumps, in a 12 inch carbon steel skillet or similar pan, flipping after one side is browned. When the other side of the sausage is browned, turn the heat off and use a pastry cutter to break the meat down inside of the pan to roughly the same size as the malloreddus.
Malloreddus
- Crush the saffron in a small glass bowl into small flakes. In a mixing bowl add the semola di grano duro, a pinch of salt and the saffron flakes. Mix the dry ingredients together well with a whisk. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the warm water. Incorporate the water in the dry ingredients until a shaggy dough forms, at which point you will turn the dough out on a cleaned table. Bring the dough together with your hands and begin to knead it for around 5 minutes or until it is smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- After the dough is rested, portion it out into 6 equal parts with a bench scraper. Roll these portions into ½ - ⅓ inch thick logs. These will double in size so don’t make your logs too thick. Flour your cavatelli maker with Tipo 00 flour and feed the logs into the cavatelli maker according to its instructions. Making these on a gnocchi board is possible but will take an inordinate amount of time. After the malloreddus are rolled out, generously dust them with Tipo 00 flour, cover and refrigerate them while you start the ragù.
Pork Ragù
- In a large bowl or Cambro container puree the San Marzano tomatoes, 1 cup of water and set to the side. Add onion, bay leaf, saffron threads salt and pepper to taste to a medium-high preheated 7.5 qt Dutch oven or similar pot and sauté this mixture until the onions are slightly translucent and begin to turn yellow at the edges from the saffron threads, about 4-6 minutes. Next, add in the Calabrian chiles and garlic. Break the Calabrian chilies with a wooden spoon and sauté for 30 seconds or until the garlic is fragrant. Next, deglaze the pan with fino sherry. Reduce the sherry until nearly all the liquid is gone and the onion and wine mixture has thickened and is glossy.
- Next, add in the pureed San Marzano tomatoes and the sautéed Sardinian pork sausage. Stir to combine then simmer the ragù over medium-low heat stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. After simmering, remove the bay leaves, turn off the heat and add in the Parmigiano Reggiano, salt and pepper to taste as well as hot honey or sugar to taste. Stir to combine and set to the side.
Finishing Steps
- Bring 5-6 quarts of lightly salted water up to a rolling boil in a 12-qt stock pot. Add all of the malloreddus to the boiling water. Cook the malloreddus until they begin to intermittently float then sink again. Do not cook the malloreddus all the way to tender. This should take approximately 3-4 minutes. Reserve a few cups of your pasta water when you pull them from the boiling water. They should still have a bit of a bite and appear slightly uncooked in the center when you bite one in half. They will become tender in the ragù. Set the malloreddus in a colander next to your saucier.
- To a medium-high preheated 5-qt saucier add 4 cups of the ragù, all of the malloreddus and 1 cup of pasta water. Over a 3-4 minute period, stir vigorously and toss the malloreddus so they absorb the ragù. Add more ragù or pasta water to taste and to achieve your desired consistency. Once the malloreddus is tender and the sauce coats them, turn off the heat and season with salt, pepper, MSG and Parmigiano Reggiano to taste. Enjoy.
Notes
Note: you will have enough ragù leftover for use with another ¾’s to one pound of uncooked pasta. The ragu will keep in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for 6 months.