Culurgiones filled with potatoes and mint, are an Ogliastra great success
Malloreddus: gnochetti (dumplings) of semolina (hard seed corn), generally handmade. This is one of the typical Sardinian “primi piatti” (first dishes). Malloreddus are usually served with tomato sauce and grated cheese (Fiore Sardo, Pecorino Sardo or Pecorino Romano).
Culurgiones: the Sardinian ravioli, called culingionis in other zones of Sardegna, are prepared with a dough of seed corn or flour, eggs, salt and olive oil and a filling of soft cheese or ricotta, chard or spinach, eggs, butter and saffron. All dressed in tomato sauce and grated Sardinian cheese. Very tasty is also the variation filled with potatoes, lard, fresh mint, chopped onion and garlic.
Minestra con casu axedu (suer cheese soup): meat's stock and pastina (tiny type of pasta, for example “stelline”, little stars). After the boiling, add pieces of casu axedu (suer cheese) melting in tasty strings.
Zuppa di pesce (fish soup): fry in a pan olive oil, garlic, chopped onion and parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, after about then minutes add the gutted and scaled fishes: position them according to their cooking time (preferred are normally eel, red/rose fish, grey mullet, black-tail, mullet, cuttlefish, octopus, mackerel, red mullet, crabs, magnosa). Then add a couple of cookwares of water, a little bit of white wine, depending on the quantity. Serve hot with toasted bread or the typical tarts, traditionally eaten by sailors and fishermen that could not preserve the bread for long time.
Porchetto arrosto (roast suckling pig): spit-roast suckling pig is one of the typical Sardinian dishes, but it is not easy to prepare. The cooking procedure is long and lot of attention is required to obtain savory meat not dried with a crunchy rind. The pork has to be turned over at the right distance from the flame, and it has to be oiled with the shortening of the fused lard. Su porceddu (this pork) is usually served in every farm-house, trattoria, restaurant, according to the culinary tradition of Sardinia.
Cinghiale in umido (wild boar): even if the boar is animal similar to the wild pig, its meat is more difficult to cook, as it is not really tender. The secret of a tasty boar's dish lays on marinating its meat into the wine, with chopped onion and some myrtle leaves. It is better served warm with a good red wine.
Agnello arrosto (roast lamb): it is one of the gastronomic specialties of Sardinia. The quality of meats depends especially on the amount of pasture available on the territory and its conditions. As for the suckling pig, the lamb's cooking procedure require a certain experience in order to avoid the dryness of the meat from the right quantity of lard.
Capretto arrosto ( roast kid): the cooking procedure is similar to the roast lamb (look at Agnello arrosto)
Interiora allo spiedo (spit-roast offal): intestines, liver and heart of kid or lamb, washed carefully and immersed in water and vinegar, then entrenched with little juniper branches and broiled.
Brent’e sàmbin (lit. stomach of blood): typical shepherd's dish, proposed even in some farm houses. It literally means “stomach of blood”, and refers to the lamb's stomach (washed with care in water and vinegar then turned over) half filled with the animal blood, lard cubes, pieces of bread and fresh cheese, chopped onion, salt and pepper powder. This is a particular tasty dish, it can be eaten warm or cold.
Favata: broad bean soup, (left in bain-marie for at least one day), lard and pork's meat in pieces, cabbage, wild fennel, sun-dried-tomatoes, and chopped onion, garlic, carrot and fennel. It is better tasted lukewarm. The Favata should be better served on a soup plate with slices of toasted bread on the bottom.
Prosciutto crudo (raw ham): a really good ham is obtained from pork's thighs (wild swines have tender meat). Meats are salted and slightly smoked, before being dried. The seasoning process demands a fresh, dark and ventilated place (usually the wine cellars of the houses). On mountain zones it is served cut in thick slices (a centimeter of thickness, or more). Very appreciated is the wild boar's ham, but this is produced only in few localities.
Coccoi prena: a specialty of Osìni, which is basically a pastry similar to the Pardulas (but bigger), with a filling of potatoes, mint, garlic, oil, “ciccioli” of lard and "casu ' e vita", a strong very tasty cheese.
Chivarxedda: another specialty of Osìni. It is similar to a small pizza ( but, the base prepared with flour and water is thinner), and contains pieces of carrots, courgettes, onions and tomatoes. The cheese ("casu'e vita -cheese and life) used in the paste gives it its spicy taste . The Chivarxedda is cooked on a leaf of head cabbage .
