Malloreddus with Tomatoes and Nduja

Making your own pasta is easy and fun, and how elaborate you go is totally up to you. For this dish I made Malloreddus (Little Bulls in Sardinian). Malloreddus are, dare I say it, one of the easiest pasta shapes to make by hand, all you need is a some pasta dough, a ridged board and your thumb (see video below).

Malloreddus Making

For pasta

• 1oog Semolina flour

  
  

• 55ml Lukewarm water

  
  

• pinch of salt

For nduja and tomato

• Piece of nduja (depending how spicy you like it)

  
  

• two tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size

  
  

• dash of passata or tomato sauce

  
  

• Parmesan, freshly grated

To make . . .

1. Either in a bowl, or on a worksurface, carefully mix together the semolina, salt and water to form a smooth, pliable dough. Knead it for a few minutes. Wrap in clinglim and rest in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

   
   

2. Once rested, split the dough into three or four equal pieces and roll each piece out to a long thin sausage shape (see below)

   
   

   

   
   

3. With either a knife or dough cutter, cut each strip into smaller piece around 1cm long (see below)

   
   
   
   

   

   
   

4. Take each piece and run along a ridged board, curling the dough around your thumb as you go. (see video below)

   
   
   
   

5. Once you have used up all your dough allow to rest while you are making the sauce.

   
   

   

   
   

6. Bring a pan of salted water up to a rolling boil ready to cook your Malloreddus.

   
   

7. Heat a dash of olive oil in a pan and add your nduja, stirring carefully of it melts into the oil.

   
   

8. Once melted add the passata and stir well till mixed together.

   
   

9. By now your water should be boiling so drop your malloreddus in to cook. When they are ready they will float to the surface.

   
   

10. Add your tomatoes to your pasta sauce and stir in well.

    
    

11. Add your cooked Malloreddus to the sauce and stir for a minute or two. If the sauce is a little thick, add a couple of spoons of the water you cooked the pasta in and stir.

    
    

12. Serve straightaway topped with freshly grated parmesan and the chopped flat-leaf parsley.