Recipe by Giuseppe Barracu: Culurgiones all'Ogliastrina with sheep ragù, liquid basil, pecorino cream, and Laconi truffle
Ingredients for 4 people
For the pasta
- 200 g of durum wheat semolina
- Lukewarm water as needed
- 1 pinch of salt
For the filling
- 300 g of potatoes
- 50 g of Sardinian pecorino
- 6 mint leaves
- Salt and pepper
For the sheep ragù
- 400 g Sardinian sheep meat
- 40 g carrot
- 40 g onion
- 40 g celery
- 1 liter sheep broth
- 30 g extra virgin olive oil
- 150 ml Vernaccia di Oristano
- Bay leaf, thyme, and sage
For the liquid basil
- 100 g basil
- 50 g boiled potato
- 50 ml vegetable broth
- 10 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- Salt and pepper
Procedure
For the pasta
Place the semolina flour in a mound, add a pinch of salt and incorporate the warm water until a smooth, even dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for one hour.
For the filling
Wash the potatoes thoroughly and boil them with their skins on in salted water. Once cooked, peel them and mash them with a potato masher. Allow to cool, then add the grated pecorino and chopped mint and season with salt and pepper.
Then roll out the dough thinly and cut out circles, place the filling in the center and close the culurgione by hand into the typical teardrop shape.
For the sheep ragu
Finely dice the celery, carrot, and onion and place in a saucepan to sauté in extra virgin olive oil. Cut the sheep meat into cubes with a knife and season with oil, salt, pepper, and herbs, then brown in a hot pan. Add the meat to the brunoise and pour in the Vernaccia di Oristano.
Once the wine has evaporated, gradually add the hot sheep broth and cook for about two and a half hours. Season with salt and pepper.
For the liquid basil
Pasta sheet the basil leaves and boil them in salted water for a few seconds, then immediately cool them in ice water and dry them.
Brown the unpeeled garlic in extra virgin olive oil and add the basil, leaving it to flavor for a few seconds. Then remove the garlic and blend everything together, adding the boiled potato and vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper.
Dish composition
Cook the Culurgiones in salted water for about 8 minutes, drain and dress with the sheep's milk ragù, the liquid basil and finally add the truffle pecorino cream and truffle shavings.
The photographs are by Tiziano Canu
