Sebadas Olienese
Sculpted into the shanks of the Sopramonte in the barbagia is Oliena. And drifting toward it from the Nuorese road at sunset, the golden lamplight of the village bedazzles the mountain, splendoring its old, cold grayness as would the gleams of ten thousand torches. Later, inside the village as we sat with our aperitivi, we told a local man how the approach had pleased us. He said that it was ritual for the Olienesi to walk down from the village at crepuscolo (twilight) turning back to face the mountain as the sun softened, sobered down to sleep, before they strolled back up the hill to suppers. And it is from these romantic Olienesi that was begun the tradition of two celebrated Sard dolci—sebadas and sospirus. Sebadas are typically made with a fresh ewe’s milk cheese cushioned inside leaves of pastry, tumbled into bubbling oil, then given a dose of bitter honey. This version asks for ricotta and mascarpone-plumped pastries to be baked, then given a wisp of a honeyed sheen. Present them after some simple supper, such as mazzamurru (page 233), with a tiny glass of icy Malvasia di Cagliari.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 10 to 12 pastries
Ingredients
The Filling
The Pastry
Preparation
The Filling
Step 1
Combine the components in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulsing the ingredients six or eight times to smooth the ricotta and blend the cheeses to a creamy texture. Turn the prepared cheese out into a bowl, cover and refrigerate it while you make the dough.
The Pastry
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Step 3
In a large bowl, combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, sea salt, and lemon zest. With your fingertips or a pastry blender, quickly work the cold butter into the dry components until it resembles coarse crumbs. Combine the egg yolks, orange flower water, and cream and pour the liquids over the butter and flour mixture, working it very swiftly into a rough dough. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press it until smooth.
Step 4
Enclose the dough in the plastic, wrapping it in a second sheet of plastic, then refrigerate it for 1 hour or place it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Roll the dough between sheets of plastic wrap to a thinness of 1/4 inch. Cut 5-inch circles from the dough, stack them between sheets of plastic, wrap them in more plastic, and leave them to rest in the refrigerator while you reroll the scraps and cut additional circles.
Step 5
When all the dough has been rolled and cut, position half the circles on parchment-lined baking sheets. Place 2 tablespoons of filling on each circle, mounding it in the center. Place another round of pastry over the cheese, folding the bottom circle up to cover the edges of the top circle, crimping, sealing the pastries.
Step 6
Bake the sebadas for 18 to 20 minutes, until they are deeply golden and crisped. Remove the sebadas from the oven. Wet a soft pastry brush in the warm honey and paint the just-baked sebadas. Permit them to rest a few minutes before giving them another pass with the honey. Remove them to racks to cool a bit, serving them warm or at room temperature.
