Ingredients
For dough
115 gms semolina flour
170 gms 00 flour or pasta flour
5 gms salt
13 gms water
120 gms egg yolk
Filling
5 red potatoes, medium size
60 gms Pecorino cheese
A few mint leaves
Salt to taste
1 tsp of olive oil
1/4 tsp of pepper
Tomato sauce
Olive oil
1 garlic (chopped)
20 Datterino tomatoes (more sweet than cherry)
250 gms tomato sauce
20 ml butter
sage for flavour
20 ml vegetable stock
(Butter and stock to be the same quantity)
Method
Add the dry ingredients, semolina flour, pasta flour, and salt in a mixing bowl.
In a jar, mix the egg yolk and the water. Start to mix the dry ingredients and slowly add the egg yolk.
After kneading the dough, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Pasta filling
Boil the potatoes for about 30 minutes over a medium flame, then peel and mash them.
In a bowl, transfer the mashed potatoes, add chopped mint, and grate the pecorino cheese. (It might be preferable to chop the mint by hand as it will give more flavour to the filling.)
Mix the ingredients, add salt if needed and transfer it to a piping bag. Keep it aside.
Making culurgiones
After allowing the dough to rest, take a piece of pasta and roll it out until it's 2mm thick. Use a round cutter to make a circle that's perfect in shape.
To make culurgiones, place a pasta dough circle in your hand. Put a heaped teaspoon of the potato pecorino mixture in the centre and use your index finger to push the pasta gently towards the filling.
Fold the left side of the pasta over to the centre and pinch it lightly to seal. Repeat the process with the right side, folding it to the centre and pinching it lightly to seal. Then, continue this process with left and right folds, pinching lightly to seal each time.
Finally, pinch the tip, and you will have the unique culurgiones shape. Repeat these steps with the remaining pasta circles.
Cooking culurgiones
Add sea salt in a pot of boiling water, then carefully drop in the culurgiones and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
For the tomato sauce, add olive oil, garlic, and datterino tomatoes in one pan. Saute well over a medium flame.
In another pan, add butter, sage, and vegetable stock.
Add the culurgiones to the pan with butter, sage, and vegetable stock. Stir it well, turn off the flame and keep it aside.
Plating
On a plate, serve culurgiones with a few spoons of cooked tomato sauce underneath. Garnish it with freshly grated pecorino cheese, olive oil, and fresh basil leaves. Enjoy!
Tips to make perfect culurgiones
When making any fresh pasta dough, drizzle a few drops of water if the dough seems crumbly.
If it looks too wet, add some flour and knead until you achieve a smooth, elastic consistency.
Keep the remaining pasta dough wrapped up or under a tea towel while making the culurgiones; otherwise, it will dry out and develop a crust.
Red potatoes are better because they are less watery; don't peel them before cooking.
Always use fresh pecorino cheese.
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