Doughs:
Sauces:
What they are
A well-kept secret from the small southern town of Orroli in Sardinia. The name likely derives from the local word for “pinch” (pizzicare, in Italian), echoing the motion used to seal these little loops. The shape reminds me of my favorite Italian cracker, Puglian taralli, and, like taralli, the dough is traditionally infused with wine—in this case, red rather than white, coloring the pasta dusty rose. For me, they’re another excuse to play around with my gnocchi board, not to mention the teardrop shape is like a bear hug for any sauce.
How they’re traditionally served
With meat and tomato sauces; in this book, with anything you’d enjoy with cavatelli, capunti, or malloreddus.
MAKE THE DOUGH
Make your dough of choice, replacing the water with red wine in the Durum Wheat & Water Pasta Dough if you’d like. Let it rest, tightly covered, at room temperature for 30 minutes.
SET UP YOUR WORKSPACE
Line a sheet pan with semolina or a dry dishcloth. Gather your tools.
ROLL THE DOUGH INTO A ROPE
Cut off a slice of dough, about the width of one or two fingers. Keep the rest covered.
Roll the dough into a thin rope, a scant ¼ inch (6 mm) thick (or a little thinner than a pencil): Start in the center and use your fingers or the palms of your hands to roll the dough, first back and forth, until the surface is smooth, and then outward in opposite directions, eventually making your way toward the ends. If the dough slides and it’s difficult to get a grip, wet your hands a little and try again. The rope does not need to be perfectly even.
CUT THE ROPE INTO PIECES
Cut the rope into pieces that are the width of your gnocchi board, about 3 inches (7.5 cm).
MAKE THE SPIZZULUS
Position the gnocchi board horizontally on your work surface and place a piece of dough north to south (perpendicular to the grooves) in the center. Use the spine of a table knife, tilted upward at a 45-degree angle, or the blade of a bench scraper to drag the dough across the board, with firm pressure, until it curls over into a tube. It will look like an elongated cavatello with the seam sealed shut.
With the seam facing downward, join the ends to form a teardrop-shaped loop and pinch them together firmly to seal.
Arrange the finished spizzulus in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining pieces, and then the remaining dough. You can leave the pasta uncovered at room temperature until you’re done, up to 5 hours.
COOK THE PASTA
Cook the spizzulus until tender but with some bite, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on their thickness and drying time.
