Culurgiones d'Ogliastra
Sardinia's wheat-ear dumplings: semolina pasta pleated shut around potato, pecorino, mint and garlic, served with a light tomato sauce.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 1 hr 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- A bit of work
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Culurgiones are filled pasta from Ogliastra, on Sardinia's east coast, sealed with a pleat that looks like an ear of wheat. The dough is durum semolina and water with a little olive oil, rolled thin and cut into discs. The filling is floury potato mashed with aged sheep's-milk cheese, fresh mint, garlic and olive oil, and it has to be firm and well seasoned, because it is most of what you taste. Closing them is the skill: hold a disc in one hand with a ball of filling on it, and pinch the edges alternately left and right, from the bottom up, until a braided seam closes at the top. Your first ten will be clumsy; a simple half-moon tastes the same. They boil in a few minutes. Done is a plate of plump, pleated dumplings, soft and minty inside, under a light tomato and basil sauce with grated pecorino.
What you'll need
11 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Semolina, fine durum semolina (semola rimacinata)300 g
- Wheat flour, plain100 g
- Water, lukewarm, roughly200 ml
- Potato, floury, unpeeled800 g
- Pecorino Romano, aged Pecorino Sardo, grated, plus more to serve150 g
- Mint, leaves, finely chopped1 handful
- Garlic, 2 grated for the filling, 1 for the sauce3 clove
- Olive oil, extra virgin, for dough, filling and sauce89 ml
- Plum tomatoes, tinned peeled, crushed400 g
- Basil6 leaf
- Salt, for the water and filling15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix the semolina, flour and a pinch of salt with 1 tbsp oil and enough water to make a firm dough. Knead 10 minutes until smooth, wrap and rest 30 minutes.
12 min
Step 2
Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender, peel and mash while hot. Mix in the pecorino, 3 tbsp oil, the mint and 2 grated garlic cloves. Taste: it should be well seasoned. Cool, then roll into balls the size of a walnut.
35 min
Step 3
For the sauce, warm 2 tbsp oil with the last garlic clove, add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt and simmer 15 minutes. Add the basil.
15 min
Step 4
Roll the dough 1–2 mm thick and cut 8 cm discs. Hold a disc in your palm with a ball of filling on it. Fold the bottom edge up and pinch, then pinch the sides in alternately, left then right, working upwards to make a braided seam, and twist it shut at the top.
40 min
Tip: Keep the discs and finished culurgiones covered with a cloth so the dough does not dry and crack.
Step 5
Boil in salted water 4–5 minutes, until they float and the seam is tender. Lift out gently, spoon over the sauce and finish with pecorino.
6 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 637 kcal
- Protein
- 22.2 g
- Carbs
- 67.4 g
- Fat
- 31.2 g
- Saturated fat
- 9.6 g
- Fibre
- 7.7 g
- Sugar
- 6.2 g
- Sodium
- 2278 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Vegetarian
Vegetarian only with a vegetarian Pecorino Romano: the traditional cheese is made with animal rennet.
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 11 November.
Substitutions
Pecorino Sardo → Pecorino Romano mixed with a mild sheep's cheese
Romano alone is saltier and sharper; cut it with something softer.
Tips
- Use floury potatoes and mash them dry: a wet filling softens the dough and leaks.
- Freeze extras on a tray before boiling, then bag them; cook straight from frozen.
History & culture
In Ogliastra culurgiones are made together around the kitchen table for feast days and family gatherings, and the speed of the best pleaters is something to see. The wheat-ear seam was meant as a wish for a good harvest. Villages argue over the cheese mix, the amount of mint and whether a little onion or lard belongs in the filling.
Ogliastra was a poor, isolated land of shepherds and smallholders, and culurgiones were made from what it had: potatoes, sheep's cheese, mint from the garden and hard wheat. Each family passed its pleat down by hand rather than in writing. In 2015 Culurgionis d'Ogliastra became an EU Protected Geographical Indication, which fixes the filling and the hand-closed seam.
Traditional — Potato, aged pecorino, mint, garlic and olive oil in a semolina dough, closed with the wheat-ear pleat.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Culurgiones d'Ogliastra take?
2 hr 10 min all in — 1 hr 15 min prep, 25 min cook, 30 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
A bit of work.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian.
6 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Rolling pin, Saucepan, Stockpot.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tbsp (for the water and filling).
What can I use instead?
Pecorino Sardo → Pecorino Romano mixed with a mild sheep's cheese. Romano alone is saltier and sharper; cut it with something softer.
Any tips from this recipe?
Use floury potatoes and mash them dry: a wet filling softens the dough and leaks. Freeze extras on a tray before boiling, then bag them; cook straight from frozen.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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