TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Malloreddus alla Campidanese

Malloreddus alla Campidanese
Difficulty★★☆☆☆ Prep10 min Cook30 min servings4

Sardinia’s distinctive gnocchetti sardi, small saffron pasta shapes, with a sausage sauce. A dish passed down as part of the island’s festive cooking.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

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Ingredients (4 servings)

  • Malloreddus (gnocchetti sardi)320 g
  • Fresh Sardinian sausageRemove from the casing and break up the meat.300 g
  • Canned whole tomatoes400 g
  • SaffronDissolve in 2 tbsp warm water.0.5 g
  • Extra virgin olive oil30 ml
  • Pecorino Sardo60 g

Method

125 min

Simmer the saffron-scented sausage ragù

  • 1 Slit the sausage casing, remove the meat and break it into coarse pieces.
  • 2 Heat 30 ml olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the sausage over medium heat.
  • 3 When the meat has broken up and browned, add 400 g whole tomatoes, crushing them by hand, followed by the saffron-infused water.
  • 4 Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Proceed when the sauce thickens.
212 min

Boil the malloreddus and toss with the sauce

  • 1 MeanwhileWhile the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the malloreddus until al dente, about 10–12 minutes.
  • 2 Reserve 50 ml cooking water and toss the pasta with the sauce.
32 min

Grate over pecorino and serve

  • 1 Grate plenty of Pecorino Sardo over the pasta and serve on plates.
A view of Cagliari, Sardegna
Cagliari, SardegnaItaly Photo: Ramon Espiña Fernand… · CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, stands at the southern tip of the island. Malloreddus, small ridged pasta resembling gnocchi, are among Sardinia’s most historic foods, proudly described locally as the island’s emblematic pasta.

Malloreddus means calves in Sardinian. The pasta is distinguished by the golden color of saffron worked into the dough and its ridged surface, whose texture differs from machine-made products. The traditional ragù of Campidano, the plain in southern Sardinia, is a simple combination of local porchedda, a pork sausage, and tomatoes, finished with Pecorino Sardo.

The dish has been passed down through generations of Sardinian families as an essential part of weddings and festivals.

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