Homemade gnocchetti sardi, mollareddus or ridged cavatelli or Homemade Sardinian Mollareddus. Do you remember we already made Homemade Busiate and Maccheroni al ferretto? Today we focus on another very easy homemade pasta shape: gnocchetti sardi, which look like homemade ridged cavatelli, but are smaller and have the typical little shell shape. I didn’t know Sardinian cuisine until one summer when I fell in love with this magnificent region, and that’s how I tasted Fregola sarda, Tiricche di saba, Pardulas, Culurgiones and many others. Today, for the first time after making many Sardinian recipes at home, I tried preparing homemade gnocchetti sardi. For this pasta shape you only need water and re-milled durum semolina and in a few steps a special pasta ready to dress as you like will be ready to serve. I made a simple sauce with cherry tomatoes and salted ricotta, also inspired by Pasta alla Norma, a dish from my tradition, and it was appreciated by everyone. But traditionally they are accompanied by a Campidanese ragù (a delicious sausage ragù)! Want to try making homemade gnocchetti sardi too? To make them you’ll only need a little patience, a gnocchi board or a fork, and maybe a spatula or simply the fingers of one hand. Conviced to try? Let’s go to the kitchen and discover together how to make Homemade Gnocchetti Sardi, but as always, before rolling up our sleeves I remind you that if you want to stay updated on my recipes you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 5
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3 cups cups re-milled durum semolina (about 500 g / 17.6 oz)
- 1 cup cup water (warm (about 250 g / 250 ml))
Tools
- Gnocchi board
- Spatula
- Bowl
Preparation
Fresh pasta is different from dried pasta and it does not expand during cooking; I therefore recommend kneading at least 100 g of flour per person (about 3.5 oz / roughly 5/8 cup per person).
Pour the flour into a bowl and add the very hot water little by little, stirring with a spoon. Turn everything out onto the work surface and work the dough until it becomes compact and homogeneous.
Fresh pasta dough is very dry and rather difficult to work; if the amount of water added is not enough add a little more (you know that not all flours behave the same), but be careful not to get a soft dough because you won’t be able to form the gnocchetti—they will stick to the gnocchi board.
Form a ball as smooth and even as you can, cover it with a bowl and let it rest for about ten minutes. After the time has passed take small pieces of dough and
roll ropes less than 1 cm thick (less than about 3/8 inch), then cut them into pieces about 1 cm long (roughly 3/8 inch). Lightly flour the gnocchi board and using two fingers or, as I do, a spatula,
press each piece onto the gnocchi board, hollowing and ridging it, applying slight pressure to give it the shell shape. Once all the gnocchetti sardi or mollareddus are ready, they are ready to be plunged into boiling water.
Here is the video showing the process to make gnocchetti sardi.
For cooking, as for any other type of pasta, mollareddus should be plunged into plenty of slightly salted boiling water, and they will be cooked in 4-5 minutes from the return to a boil. You can dress them with the sauce you prefer.
Storage and tips
If you intend to dry the pasta, place it in a basket where it can breathe and store it in a dry, cool, ventilated place. In this case the cooking times may even triple.
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