Name: Culurgionis d'Ogliastra
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian (Sardegna)
Ingredients: 250 g durum wheat semolina; 150 g soft wheat flour; 200 ml warm water; 1 tbsp lard (or 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or butter); salt (a pinch); 800 g floury potatoes, boiled and mashed; 75 g aged Sardinian pecorino, grated; 75 g casu axedu (fresh sour cheese), crumbled (or a fresh, tangy goat's cheese); 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or lard or suet); 1 bunch of fresh mint, chopped (optional — the classic flavouring); 2 cloves garlic, crushed into the oil (optional); 400 ml simple tomato and basil sauce (the usual way — not part of the specification); grated pecorino (to serve)

La provenienza

Where this recipe comes from

‘Culurgionis d'Ogliastra’ is a Protected Geographical Indication, registered by the European Union in 2016. The specification describes a little bundle of pasta, 20–33 grams, filled with potato and a blend of cheeses and closed by hand with at least ten pinches, alternately left and right, into a seam that looks like an ear of wheat — the ‘spighitta’.

The filling is mostly potato, with a mix of cheeses: casu axedu, a fresh, sour Sardinian cheese, and pecorino or other sheep's, goat's or cow's milk cheeses. Mint, garlic, basil or onion may be added; mint and garlic are the classic choice. The culurgionis are made in the villages of Ogliastra, the mountainous area of eastern Sardinia, and by tradition in neighbouring Esterzili, Sadali and Escalaplano.

By tradition — not part of the specification — they were made to honour the dead in early November, the wheat-ear seam being a wish for a good harvest. The specification was amended in 2019; this recipe follows the registered text.

Provenance: EU-codifiedThe dish itself is protected by an EU specification (TSG, PDO or PGI) that fixes how it is made.
Defined by: European Union
Reference: PGI ‘Culurgionis d'Ogliastra’ — Regulation (EU) 2016/1729, 2016
Sources: PGI ‘Culurgionis d'Ogliastra’ — production specification (Disciplinare.it, Italian)
‘Culurgionis d'Ogliastra’ — the application for registration as published by the EU (Qualivita, PDF, Italian)

Ogliastra, Sardegna

Errori comuni

Common mistakes

Using only one cheese: the specification asks for a blend, typically fresh sour casu axedu with aged pecorino.
Overfilling — the seam cannot close and they burst while cooking.
Closing them with a fork or a mould: the wheat-ear seam is made strictly by hand.

Fuori dall'Italia

Cooking it outside Italy

Casu axedu is almost impossible to find outside Sardinia; a fresh, tangy goat's cheese is the closest substitute.
Pecorino Sardo or Fiore Sardo are worth seeking out; Pecorino Romano is much saltier.

Culurgionis d'Ogliastra

Where this recipe comes from

Ingredients

For the dough

For the filling

To serve

Method

Common mistakes

Cooking it outside Italy

More primipasta & rice from other regions