As a Kid, I Didn’t Know What Culurgiones Were

• tempo totale: 30 minutes

Ingredienti

I just knew Mercedes made them for us one summer, and that first bite felt like a secret.

Ingredients (Makes 25–30 Culurgiones):

For the dough:

150 g (5¼ oz) pastry flour

80 g (2¾ oz) remilled durum wheat semolina

5 g (¾ tsp) fine salt

30 g (2½ tbsp) extra virgin olive oil

110 g (⅓ cup + 2 tbsp) warm water

For the filling:

1 kg (2¼ lbs) yellow potatoes (old potatoes work best)

100 g (3½ oz) Sardinian pecorino, grated

20 g (¾ oz) Fiscidu cheese (or feta as substitute)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp mint (fresh or dried, your choice)

Olive oil, to taste

Salt, to taste

Instructions (Short Version):

Istruzioni

Make the dough:

Mix flours, salt, and olive oil. Slowly add warm water, knead until smooth. Rest the dough, covered, for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the filling:

Boil and mash the potatoes. Mix in grated pecorino, crumbled fiscidu (or feta), garlic, mint, olive oil, and salt. Chill the filling.

Shape the culurgiones:

Roll out the dough thin and cut circles (6–8 cm). Place a spoonful of filling inside.

Close them by pinching the edges together in a wheat spike shape (find shaping videos online — practice makes perfect).

Cook:

Boil in salted water until they float. Serve simply with olive oil and grated cheese — or tomato sauce if you prefer.

Mercedes made these for us without saying why.

Now I understand: she wasn’t just feeding us. She was sharing her family’s history.

Would you try folding protection into your pasta?