Try this Easy Culurgiones Recipe with Pesto and Tomato from southern Italy! Fantastic with two sauces filled with potato and cheese.
Culurgiones is one of the signature pasta dish from Sicily. I’ve been to Italy several times and always enjoyed all the different varieties of pasta, but I never had the opportunity yet to visit Sicily. I look forward to that opportunity to visit there if I ever get that chance.
In southern Italy a semolina style pasta dough is more common than the northern style with eggs. You can choose whatever dough you are more comfortable with but the one I gave is the semolina style dough. Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it!
pasta recipe
Culurgiones from Sicily with Pesto and Tomato
Semolina Pasta
- 2 cup semolina flour
- 1 cup 00 flour
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 tsp salt
Culurgiones
- 1 lb russet potato boiled and mashed
- 2 oz mozzarella
- 3 oz parmesan cheese
- 2 oz manchego
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp creme fraiche
- salt pepper to taste
Tomato Sauce
- 4 cups heirloom tomatoes
- 1 cup onion small diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp chili flakes
- 2 1/2 cup water
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup basil leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup Pesto
How to make culurgiones filling
- Boil potatoes, drain, and mash it. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and allow to cool to room temperature.
How to make culurgiones pasta
-
Typically in the south the dough is made with all semolina flour, in this case I like the texture the flour adds to the pasta and that is why I use both flours. Feel free to use all semolina if you so choose.In a bowl with both flours mixed well. Make a hole or well in the center of the flour. Add the water and mix with your hands until you make a dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and then wrap and allow it to rest. Then using a bench scraper or knife cut the dough in half. Then take your dough and pass it through the pasta machine and work it down to the 2nd to last setting. Repeat the same process. Then use a 3 1/2-inch ring mold to cut out circles. Then take your filling and place in the center of the round disk. You want to over stuff the round. Then fold the pasta into a “taco” shape around the filling. Fold in the bottom of the taco and pinch the edges together. xanax prescription online doctor https://www.sunjournal.com/ As you are folding the seam you should be pushing the filling out the the round. Continue this step until the pasta is sealed tightly. It should look like a zipper. Continue until you all have no more filling
How to make tomato sauce
- The better the tomatoes the better the sauce! This is my basic tomato sauce but I have plenty of variations on this website. In a sauce pot add 3 tbsp of olive oil with onion, chili flakes, and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the tomatoes. Add the water and 1 1/2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil and cover with a lid. Cook for about 30-45 minutes and then add basil leaves. Then with a hand blender or vitamix puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper if needed. I would add a touch of cream if desired. Set aside and keep warm if you want to serve warm. For this recipe mine was cold from the leftover sauce I had made earlier but either would work well for this recipe hot or cold.
To finish
-
Place a pot of salt water on the stove and bring to a boil. Place the culurgiones in the water and boil for 2-3 minutes. Strain out and place in two different pans. Place some of the pesto in one pan and place the tomato butter in the other pan. Season with salt and pepper and place in a bowl. Shave a few pieces of parmesan on top. Serve and enjoy!