Lorighittas is a handmade Sardinian pasta shaped like twisted rings, traditionally made from semolina flour and water. The name comes from the Sardinian word for "iron rings," but the shape is also said to resemble earrings, and it was historically made for special occasions like All Saints' Day. The pasta eats very well with tomato, seafood, or a nice ragu.

Recipe: (47-48% hydration)

500g semola rimacinata

235g room temp water

Scale flour and make a mount of flour on your work surface. Use your dominant hand in a circular motion in the center of the flour. Create robust walls to ensure your liquid with not leak. Pour your water in the center and use a fork to whisk flour and liquid together until forms a smooth paste. It should look like creaming eggs very smooth. Then using a bench scraper to do a tender chopping motion while folding the dough over. Repeat process until the dough is one solid mass. Knead the dough for 5 minutes and rest for 10-15 minutes, knead dough again for 3-5 minutes. For semola based doughs rest for 60 minutes room temperature or rest overnight in fridge. If resting doughs over night pull them 2-3 hours before wanted to use so they can get to room temp.

Creating lorighittas I have seen 3 different ways to create the shape.

rolling thin ropes by hand
cutting pasta sheets on a chitarra to make thin ropes
using a bigolaro (manual pasta extruder)

After creating ropes you want to wrap the rope around three fingers on your non dominant hand, over lapping the ropes, tare off the access rope, seal the rope creating two circles, then using your fingers to counter braid the ropes together. Towards the end of the braid I lightly pull to tighten them to create the shape. Video below for more understanding how to make it.

Once you make the pasta let dry at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before eating or reserve in fridge for 4-5 days.

Lorighittas

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