Pardulas · Pardulas Sarde (Casadinas)
Sardinia · dolce · serves 18 · 150 min total · medium
The Easter dolce of the Campidano plain — a hand-pleated open tartlet of fresh sheep's ricotta, scented with saffron from the fields of San Gavino. The pleated cup is older than Christianity; the crown shape was a pagan spring offering long before it carried the resurrection's egg-and-ricotta filling. Each village pleats them differently; women compete to make the most regular pleats by hand.
Ingredients
- 300 g semolina rimacinata
- 100 g 00 flour
- 50 g strutto (lard) or olive oil
- 150 ml warm water
- 1 pinch pinch of salt
- 500 g fresh sheep's-milk ricotta
- 150 g sugar
- 2 eggs eggs
- 1 yolk egg yolk
- 40 g fine semolina for filling
- 1 pinch Sardinian saffron (Zafferano di Sardegna DOP)
- 1 orange orange zest
- 1 lemon lemon zest
- 80 g Sardinian honey for finishing
Method
- Bloom the saffron in 1 tbsp warm water for 15 minutes — the colour should be deep gold.
- Pastry: combine semolina, flour, salt. Rub in the soft lard. Add warm water gradually, knead 8 minutes to a smooth firm dough. Wrap, rest 30 minutes.
- Filling: whisk the drained ricotta with sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and yolk, then the filling semolina, the bloomed saffron with its liquid, orange and lemon zest. The filling should be glossy and pale gold.
- Roll the dough as thin as you can — 2 mm, ideally with a pasta machine. Cut discs of 9 cm across.
- Place a tablespoon of filling in the centre of each disc.
- Now the trick: pinch the edges of the disc up around the filling at 6–8 evenly spaced points, leaving the centre exposed. The pleated wall forms an open cup — the pardula is a little crown.
- Place each pardula on a lined tray. Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 22–25 minutes — the pleated edges turn deep gold, the filling lightly browned and puffed.
- Cool 10 minutes. Brush each pardula's top with warm honey while still tepid.
- Eat the same day.