Sardinian Pasta Dinner, influenced by Lidia Bastianich.

I love Italian food.  My love of Italian food goes beyond pizza and spaghetti.  I have a longing to learn how to cook Italian food from the different regions of Italy.  I recently discovered Lida's cooking show on my local PBS cable channel. I like her format of sharing recipes from Italy, which are intermingled with beautiful videos of her visiting the region from where her recipe originates.

I was intrigued by her episode on Sardinia, and then I watched her making a very simple pasta with two of her grandchildren!  Lidia explained each step so well, that she made  it look so simple--so I decided I was going to make this delicious looking dish.  Unfortunately, I don't have any of her cookbooks (which is going to change), and this recipe was not posted on her website.  The sausage tomato sauce is very similar to how I make marinara sauce, so that was easy to "wing it" on my own.  As for the pasta-- I had to rewind her show (I love DVR), pausing and trying to see the measurements on camera. I ended up guessing at the amount of water she used to make this very simple semolina flour "gnocchi".   Let me show you:

The key ingredients to make both recipes are whole Roma tomatoes (Lidia says that canned are just as good).  I used California grown San Marzano-Style tomatoes which are truly  flavorful.  Yes, I had Saffron.  I buy it at Trader Joe's for a reasonable price (because it's a small amount).  The saffron is to give a pretty golden color to the pasta.  The sauce is super easy to make:

Prep work goes pretty quickly-- minced onion, sliced fresh garlic, sausage, fresh basil, and red pepper flakes. It kills me to buy basil, but it's too cold to grow it in my garden.  The whole tomatoes were pulsed in a food processor, but not pureed.  Now, to prepare the sausage...

 I paid about $5.50 a pound for sausage from my local meat market; I removed it from the casing.  I liked Lidia's tip that adding a little white wine prevents the sausage from cooking in lumps.  So, that's what I did-- gently working the wine into the sausage. There, all the prep is done.

Olive oil is heated, in a Dutch Oven, and the onions are sauteed until tender-- just a couple minutes. I added 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  You can add less, or none at all.  Lidia says she likes it, so I trusted her...
Push some of the cooked onion aside, and add a little more olive oil.

Now, add the garlic slices and shove that aside.  Add the sausage, and cook until no longer pink.

The tomatoes are added, a little more salt and fresh basil.  I didn't chop the basil, because I will remove it before serving the sauce. Cooked fresh basil turns dark, which isn't very pretty. Cover and simmer on low-- mine simmered for about 1 1/2 hours.  Time to make the pasta.  I'm not sure which is politically correct-- Ciccione/gnocchi/dumplings. To make this pasta, you need Semolina Flour.  I paid a little over $4.00 for this bag. 

I had no idea what the water to flour ratio was, but I guess two parts flour to one part water..

I divided the water ratio. To the hot water, I added a pinch of saffron, stirring it with a spoon to release the yellow color.  If you don't buy saffron, I am guessing you could use Tumeric.  The purpose behind using saffron is to give the pasta a deep golden color. Skip it, if you'd like.  I added 4 cups flour to the food processor. With the processor turned out, I slowly added 1 1/2 cups water and then 1/2 cup of saffron water.


The lower right photo shows a saffron thread going into the food processor.

I must've guess the water ratio right, because the dough came together, and I turned off the food processor. On a lightly floured surface, the dough is kneaded a few times, then shaped into a disk.  I wrapped it with plastic wrap, then placed it into the refrigerator for an hour-- which helps the gluten to relax.  The pasta sauce was simmering away, and smelling very good!

I could feel the difference in the dough, an hour later. It definitely felt more pliable.  Divide the dough into six pieces-- then ask for help.  My husband did a great job-- each piece was divided into three pieces, again.  Then he rolled it and cut them into small pieces. You want to sprinkle flour before cutting each piece.

 My job was to roll each piece of dough. I used the back of a hard cheese microplane. Using my thumb, the dough easily rolled.  Success!  You can use your index finger-- but I learned a couple of thing. 1) don't make the pieces too large, because the pasta will double when it cooks. 2) you want flour on each piece-- otherwise it can stick to the grater.  

Kids can definitely get it on the fun with making this. Craig sped up the process of doing this to 45 minutes, total.

I placed the pasta on a clean towel, over a baking sheet and started a pot of water to boiling.

Mimicking Lidia, I pulled the corners of the towel and lifted the pasta over a colander, then gently poured the pasta in-- removing the towel. Shaking the colander, the excess flour fell onto the baking sheet.

I never forget to add salt to pasta water!  I added the pasta, which began to float to the top. I guessed at cooking these for about 10 minutes.... I tested one, and it felt like it was properly cooked.

I wasn't sure about the pasta to tomato sauce ratio, so I removed HALF of the tomato sauce.  A "spider" is one of my "must have" kitchen tools.  I carefully lifted the pasta with the spider from the water, and into the tomato sauce.  I decided to add the rest of the tomato sauce-- feel confident the ratios would be perfect.

Oh, yum!  I could taste some heat from the red pepper flakes...

The kitchen smelled like Italy!  The sauce seemed a bit thin-- but maybe it's because I'm used to a marinara sauce that is made with crushed tomatoes.

Freshly grated cheese is a "must".

You can garnish with fresh basil, if you desire to. We did.

Our verdict:  We loved this!  The whole tomato sauce was thinner, but it had great flavor from the fresh basil and red pepper flakes. We liked the subtle heat of the spice.  The texture of the pasta was slightly chewy-- like a dumpling.  There is a difference with fresh pasta, and I want to learn more!  This dish tasted fresh and healthy-- you could reduce the fat by using turkey sausage.  This recipe got "five stars" from my husband.  He doesn't do that very often.  I wonder, is it because he helped make the pasta?  He says he loved the flavor of it.  It tasted excellent the next day.

I am officially a fan of Lidia Matticchio Bastianich.

I miss being able to post more than 1-2 times a week, and I miss not having as much time to visit my blogger friends-- and discovering new blogs.  Thank you, for hanging in there with me. I so appreciate your comments, and I look forward to sharing more recipes from my kitchen.

Here's the printable recipe:

Enjoy!