Cùscusu e Fregula
Cùscusu e Fregula
Couscous and Fregola
Cùscusu (Sicilian dialect for “couscous”) and fregula (Sardinian for “fregola”) are cousins. Both are made by forming balls of semolina pasta, but the grains of cùscusu are smaller, about the size of coarse coffee grounds, while fregula is similar in size to Israeli couscous. Indeed, like the Israeli variety, fregula is often dried by toasting in an oven (though not everyone on the island embraces this step). In both cases, this ground durum wheat pasta has ancient origins in Italy, dating back to the ninth century when Arabic culture arrived in Sicily and Sardinia, introducing a sophisticated approach to trade and commerce that included dried pasta made in factories. If making these shapes is really your jam, order a handmade freguera from the master, Walter Usai, who is known for his steep-sided terracotta bowls ideal for dough making.
Ingredients (3)
Ingredients (3)
Instructions
To make cùscusu
Dissolve the salt in the warm water.
Pour ¼ cup of the semolina into a large bowl.
Drizzle over 2 droplets of the salted water and stir in a circular motion with your fingertips to incorporate.
Add small amounts of water, stirring constantly, until the bowl is filled with small balls of cùscusu.
Transfer the cùscusu to a baking sheet.
Repeat with another 1/4 cup of semolina and droplets of water, working in batches, until all the semolina is used up. You may not need all the water.
Dry the cùscusu at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight.
To make fregula
Pour 2 tablespoons of the salted water into a freguera or large bowl.
Rain in a fistful of semolina and stir in a circular motion with your fingertips to incorporate.
Alternate the addition of small amounts of water and semolina until the mixture forms small balls about 1/8 inch in diameter. You may have to work in batches, depending on the size of your bowl. You may not need all the water.
Transfer the fregula to a baking sheet.
Dry at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight or dry out in the oven.
To do so, preheat the oven to 300°F.
Bake the fregula until the pasta is hard and golden, about 20 minutes; some balls may appear darker than others.
Remove from the oven and let cool. The fregula will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a month.
Fregula allo Zafferano (Saffron-Tinted Fregula)
Bloom a pinch (approximately20 strands) of saffron in the water for making fregula, then follow the method on the right.
Notes
Notes
TIP 1: The amount of water added to the flour influences the size of the grains. Less water (and a trained hand!) produces smaller grains. Use gentle pressure as you stir the flour and water together for best results. When making fregula, sift out the smaller balls as they do in Sardinia, then dry and store to use as a “starter” in your next batch.
TIP 2: If you’re left with cùscusu of varying sizes, sift out the largest bits and treat as fregula.
This recipe is part of the Food of the Italian Islands digital cookbook, and is only available once you've purchased the cookbook.
Purchase ($25.00)
