Gnocchetti or Malloreddus alla Campidanese

In my house this dish is called “Cristina’s sausage pasta”, in honour to my friend Cristina from Sardinia, who is a master preparing it, although the real Sardinian name is “Malloreddus Sardus” or in Italian “Gnocchetti or Malloreddus alla Campidanese”. This is in fact a dish originated in the Campidano plain, which is situated in the South-West of the island, where agriculture has been successful during history: here, Punic and Romans cultivated grains and grapes and more. Gnocchetti is a type of Sardinian regional pasta made with semolina flour and water and a shape of a 2 cm small shell (link to make Gnocchetti Sardi).

Nowadays, it is considered a national type of pasta. Try it and let me know what do you think.

Gnocchetti or Malloreddus alla Campidanese

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Good to know

If one day you realise that you really like the Gnocchetti or Malloreddus alla Campidanese, you could prepare the sauce for more than once, put it in the freezer in different containers and use it at your pleasure. You can keep it in the freezer for up to 5 weeks.

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Ingredients 4 servings

1. Dry or fresh gnocchetti/malloreddus, 500g

2. Fresh Italian (ideally Sardinian) sausages with fennel seeds, 400 g

3. Onion, finely chopped, half

4. Garlic, cloves, crushed, 2

5. Fennel seeds, 1 pinch

6. Bay leaves, 3-4

7. Pecorino sardo, 100 g

8. Parmigiano Reggiano, 50 g

9. Extra virgin olive oil EVO, 30 ml

10. Tomato passata, 500 g

11. Salt and pepper

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Let’s jump to the method

1. Get ready all ingredients.

2. First of all, make a straight cut along the skin of the sausages with a sharp knife and take out all the meat. Separate the meat with a fork, like as it was just minced.

3. Add the olive oil in a medium size pan and let it warm up. Add the crushed garlic and just after, add the chopped onion.

4. Once the onion and garlic are golden, not burnt though, add the minced meat of the sausages and cook until brown. While cooking, keep on stiring the meat to make sure it browns well and all lumps are gone. It would take roughly 15 minutes.

5. After 15 minutes, add the tomato passata and half glass of water.

6. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to dissolve the soureness of the tomato (optional).

7. Add a pinch of fennel seeds and 3-4 bay leaves. Stir with a wood spoon.

8. Half cover with a lid and cook at low heat for 1 hour. From time to time, stir the sauce and make sure it doesn’t burn or dries out: add half glass of water if it does and lower the heat.

9. In the meanwhile, get ready a pot of water big enough for 500 g of gnocchetti and bring to a boil. Ideally, for every 100 g of pasta you should use 1 litre of water and 10 g of salt for each litre.

10. When ready, transfer the gnocchetti into a capacious serving bowl, add the sausage sauce and a generous amount of pecorino and parmesan cheese.

11. Serve the Gnocchetti and Buon Appetito!

Gnocchetti or Malloreddus alla Campidanese