Lorighittas or Braided Pasta are a beautiful dish to treat yourself to every once in a while. A bit tedious to make but well worth it.
On the days you're feeling a little adventurous, you have to try making Lorighittas. Named for the iron rings used to hitch horses, this braided shaped pasta may not be the most popular out there, but they will rival the best of them for the prettiest!
Need an easy sauce to put over these Lorighittas? Try my Italian Meat Sauce (or Gravy) or my creamy Bolognese sauce. Both will compliment these homemade Lorighittas extremely well.
What are Lorighittas?
Originating in the small town of Morgongiori on the island of Sardinia, this braided pasta uses just two ingredients. Semolina flour and warm water.
Most people have never heard of Lorighittas and that's not a surprise. Even in Morgongiori, there were typically only a handful of women who seasonally make it. But that changed in 1994 when the town council started hosting an annual festival called Sagre delle Lorighittas to celebrate it. Now, not only is it becoming more popular in Sardinia, but it's also starting to gain popularity in mainland Italy too.
It's a difficult and tedious pasta to make and one that will certainly test even the best pasta maker's patience. But those that take the time to twist these into form will be rewarded with an amazing texture and chewiness every pasta lover will enjoy!
Get your semolina dough ready and get braiding! The semolina flour can be tough to track down, so if you need some you can grab it for a good price here through Amazon.
Use my semolina dough recipe to get started.
How do you make homemade Lorighittas?
Guns N' Roses said "just a little patience" and that couldn't be more true when making Lorighittas. You'll certainly make mistakes starting of, but enjoy the experience and appreciate the art!
First, cut off a small piece of the dough, roughly about the size of your thumb if you can.
Next, start rolling the dough, applying a little pressure as you go. Roll one end of the dough out until it gets as thin as a piece of spaghetti.
Now, here's the important part! You need the right consistency and elasticity to make this work. Otherwise, you'll end up breaking the dough either when you're rolling it thin or during the next step when you start to shape the rings.
Keep a glass of warm water near you as you start to roll out the dough. You need the dough to be a bit moist versus being too dry. You don't want it soaked, but you may need to wet your fingers here and there as you continue rolling it to spaghetti thickness.
Once the dough is thin and malleable enough, begin wrapping the thin pasta around two or three fingers. Wrap it twice around.
Now, break the dough off the larger piece.
Then, using one hand, pinch the loose tails together to ensure they don't come apart and start braiding the other end.
Finally, using the opposite hand you pinched the loose tails with, begin twisting the two layers of dough around each other, forming a braid.
Keep twisting until you have a beautiful, braided Lorighittas!
Serve it with a Ragu or meat sauce! I actually used some Rao's Homemade Tomato & Basil sauce and added some meat to it.
Delicious!
Buon appetito!
Tools I used in this recipe:
- Molino Grassi Organic Semolina Flour
- OXO Stainless Steel Chopper/Scrapper
- Cooling/Drying Rack
- Pyrex Measuring Cups
Recipe
Homemade Lorighittas
Equipment
- Wooden board
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cut a small piece off the semolina dough - preferably about as big as your thumb. Start rolling the dough, applying a little pressure as you go. Roll one end of the dough out until it gets as thin as a piece of spaghetti. IMPORTANT - keep a glass of warm water near you as you start to roll out the dough. You need the dough to be a bit moist versus being too dry. You don't want it soaked, but you may need to wet your fingers here and there as you continue rolling it to spaghetti thickness.
- Once the dough is thin and malleable enough, begin wrapping the thin pasta around two or three fingers. Wrap it twice around then pinch the dough off to break apart from the larger piece.
- Using one hand, pinch the loose tails together to ensure they don't come apart and start braiding the other end.
- Finally, using the opposite hand you pinched the loose tails with, begin twisting the two layers of dough around each other, forming a braid.
- Until you have your Lorighittas!
Marie
Fun to make and delicious with any sauce