Malloreddus alla Campidanese

This is a truly traditional Sardinian dish, you'll find it on restaurant menus on the island. I remember eating this dish on lots of occasions with friends in Pula, and not least with my neighbour Angioletta and her husband. They used to invite me for lunch before the whole town took a siesta.

If you want to bring a taste of Sardinia into your kitchen at home, follow the recipe below.

Malloreddus alla campidanese

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Serves: 2-3

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Ingredients:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 pork sausages, skins removed
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp of crushed fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp of freshly chopped rosemary
• 400g chopped tinned tomatoes
• 200g Gnocchi Sardia pasta, available form Garofalo, including Gluten Free.
• Pecorino, or parmesan or alternative hard cheese
• Olive Oil

Instructions:

1. Gently heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the finely chopped onion, and cook on a low heat until soft.
2. Meanwhile skin the sausages so you only have the meat, then add this to the pan, along with the fennel and rosemary. Mix with a wooden spoon to break down the meat and brown.
3. Add the tomato puree and stir into the sausage meat, then add 400g of chopped tomatoes. Rinse the tomato can out with a splash of water and add to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Allow the sauce to simmer gently for about 20-25 minutes, if it starts to look a little dry add a splash of pasta water.
5. While the sauce is simmering bring a pan of water to the boil for the pasta. Add a pinch of salt and cook the pasta - you can also make this from scratch using semolina or water. Alternatively Garofalo have gnochetti sardi in their range.
6. Once you're happy with your sauce, it should have thickened but remain silky. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir it in, along with some Pecorino stirred through.
7. Now it's time to serve, with an extra topping of Pecorino cheese, this dish would also go beautifully with a bottle of Cannonau if you can get your hands on this Sardinian wine that matches perfectly with the deep flavours of the sauce and the sausage.

This recipe is in collaboration with Garofalo Pasta as part of a paid for partnership. Garofalo Pasta is widely available on Ocado and Amazon

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Pane carasau | Sardinian flatbread

Pane Carasau is one of my favourite things to eat in Sardinia. Traditionally the flat bread was made for shepherds as its long life meant it would last whilst they were out for long periods tending to their herd. Also known as music bread due to its resemblance to the parchment paper that sacred music was written on. It's sometimes hard to find outside of Italy, even in local italian delicatessens. So when I discovered the recipe to make my own I had to try it. By no means was my first attempt perfect and it definitely needs some work but I thought by sharing my own stumbling blocks it might make it easier for others to follow if you want to attempt making your own! You'll need to plan ahead as the whole process including the resting takes approx. 3 and a 1/2 hours. I used Gino D'Acampo's recipe from his Islands in the Sun recipe book and halved the ingredients for my first attempt:

• 500g strong white flour

• 1.5g fast action dried yeast

• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Pane Carasau

Ingredients:

• 500g strong white flour

• 1.5g fast action dried yeast

• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Instructions:

1. First things first, make your dough.

2. Next, cut the dough into six equal sized pieces and shape into a ball. Leave to rest on lightly floured baking sheets, covered with a tea towel and in a warm place for an hour and a half.

3. Roll out one of the balls to approximately 15cm in diameter and 2mm thick, dust with flour and place a sheet of greaseproof paper on paper and repeat the process with each ball of dough and stack them up. Then leave them to rise for another hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 220° and place a terracotta tile, pizza stone or baking tray in the oven. Turn the stack of flatbreads over and place the one that is now on top on the terracotta tile and close the oven immediately. This next part is key, the flatbread should rise in the oven like the below within about a minute – if it doesn’t, leave them to rest for another half an hour.
5. Remove from the oven and while hot cut the flatbred in half like you can see here. It’s quite important to do this as quickly as you can once you remove them from the oven, otherwise they stick together again.
6. Once you have cut it in half, place one half on top of the other and weigh them down with a wooden board on top. Repeat the process with the other flatbreads.
7. Finally, flip the stack back over and place the one now on top back in the oven for two minutes until you see them start to brown slightly and repeat with the remaining.