Here comes bistronomic cuisine on the Costa Smeralda. At the restart of the summer season which already promises to be sold out, lo Starred chef Claudio Melis, Sardinian doc, not only in name but also in fact because despite his international experiences strongly warns the link not only cultural but also gastronomic with its Sardinian, settles into the new Pasiga Restaurant, innovative restaurant of Sulià House Porto Rotondo, luxury boutique hotel Curio Collection by Hilton which enjoys a privileged position with a panoramic view of the Gulf of Cugnana.
Pasigà Restaurant is an absolute novelty for the Sardinian gastronomic panorama: it is the first ethical and sustainable restaurant on the Costa Smeralda and one of the few in all of Sardinia. A restaurant which, although located inside the Sulià House, an exclusive hotel, with large terraces set on the rocky slopes that slope down towards the sea, offers a concept of haute cuisine, developed in a convivial and informal context, strongly connected with the territory that focuses on the local product and the short supply chain.
La traditional cuisine of the island is reinterpreted by the chef in an innovative key, giving ample space to creativity, to accompany the guest to discover the soul of the island through a taste experience with a vision of "circular" cooking, with highly selected and quality local ingredients.
Of Sardinian origins, Claudio Melis, from his mother's home cooking, has passion and respect for fresh and simple ingredients, two concepts that have always represented a point of reference throughout his prestigious professional career. Which, after the hotel school, took him to France and Germany where he built his foundations and then joined the great schools, the Gualtiero Marchesi's team (3 Michelin stars) in Erbusco (Brescia), and subsequently del Restaurant Joya by Pietro Leemann. first European vegetarian restaurant to receive a Michelin star, and again of Parizzi restaurant, in Parma (1 Michelin star) and the Biohotel Hermitage 4*S, del Stube Hermitage restaurant (1 Michelin star) in Madonna di Campiglio and del La Siriola restaurant 1 Michelin star in Alta Badia directed by Matteo Metullio who - as the judges of the Michelin Guide wrote - had the merit of making the village of San Cassiano "the most coveted and famous gourmand stop in the Dolomites".
With a training course under starry skies of this level, Claudio Melis' fame soon crossed national borders.
For this he was called to Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in Riyadh, at Jumby Bay, a 5*L ad Ancient, one of the most luxurious resorts in the world. The Jumeirah Group therefore entrusted him with the launch of a new Italian restaurant on the 50th floor of the iconic Emirates Towers in Dubai, and the management of 6 restaurants and 4 signature and casual dining bars Jumeirah Restaurant Group. Finally in 2015 he returned to Italy in South Tyrol where he opened his own restaurant Zur Kaiserkron in Bolzano. Two years later, another revolution: Melis launches its own “Ristorante In Viaggio” a signature restaurant and fine dining with 12 seats, in a suggestive historic location in the center of the old town Bolzano which made noise for its innovative conception with which gets a Michelin star, the first to land on Bolzano after 51 years (ironically…thanks to a Sardinian).
Finally the sirens of Sardinia have brought him back to his homeland, to Porto Rotondo, where Melis has rediscovered his land and letting himself be inspired by its sea, by the gestures, by the dedication of its people, by memories and by the imagination, has developed a culinary proposal suspended between tradition and innovation. A kitchen – he likes to say – that he wants involve the palate, brain and heart starting from the identity of the product because, as Carlo Petrini teaches, and Melis has always warned him, you need to know the history of a food, know where it comes from, imagine the hands that have cultivated, processed and cooked what you eat. Undoubtedly the need to stimulate the palate with authenticity Melis inherited from his mother "who didn't make minestrone if she didn't have the neighbour's green beans, potatoes from that given plot of land and so on", concepts which at Pasigà are then combined with elegance and lightness, with the color and freshness of dishes that they hide behind an apparent simplicity sophisticated search for emotional flavours and above all with aattention to sustainability which is love and respect for the territory.
For the readers of Mondo Food, chef Claudio Melis proposes the recipe for Ravioli di Casa Mia, "a recipe that my mother has always cooked which is based on ingredients that have always been present in the culture and kitchens of Sardinian housewives especially in the more inland areas, precisely potatoes, mint and saffron".
The dish that semantically it already encloses the philosophy of the Pasigà world it is made with poor ingredients (“saffron – explains Melis – is actually a noble product but in our island culture it was originally an ingredient simply present in all gardens and not specifically cultivated as it happens today”) but with an intense and complex. The shape of the ravioli is an obvious one reference to the traditional culurgiones in the shape of an ear (“the ear represents the wheat that in Sardinia is life and sustenance - hence the wish: saludi e trigu, i.e. health and grain in the sense of always having food available"). The dish is served with an intense broth of roasted potato peelings, a clear example of circular cooking where all parts of an ingredient are used. In short, Sardinia with all its values is staged in Porto Rotondo between history and the future.
The recipe for Casa Mia Ravioli, Fresh Pecorino, Sorrel Leaves
Ingredients for 4 people
For the potato filling
200 g floury red potatoes
60 g soft goat cheese or fresh Casigiolu
gr 1 stigmas of saffron
1 sachet of saffron powder
5 g sieved dried mint
5 g EVOO oil
10 g softened butter
Salt, black pepper, nutmeg to taste
For the ravioli pasta
150 g durum wheat semolina
70 g flour 00
90 g warm water
20 g egg whites
25 g EVOO oil
5 g salt
For the roasted potato broth
500 g water
500 g vegetable broth
500 g potatoes with peel cut into cubes
Other
Butter, salt, red sorrel leaves, fresh pecorino cubes
Preparation
For the filling, boil the well-cooked potatoes in their skins. Peel and mash them with a potato masher. When hot, incorporate all the ingredients and leave to rest for half a day.
For the pasta, mix the flours in a planetary mixer, gradually adding water and egg white. As soon as the dough is smooth add oil and salt. Remove from the machine and work on the table until a homogeneous and nervous dough is obtained. Wrap and leave to rest for at least an hour at 4° before processing.
For the broth, roast the potatoes in the oven at 170° and season them with a little salt until they are just burnt.
Add the potatoes to the liquids mixed together and bring to a boil. Cook for about 1 hour. Cover and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Filter and season with salt.
Roll out the dough in a rather thin sheeter. Cut out circles with a pastry cutter of about 6 cm. Fill each circle with a teaspoon of stuffing (5 per portion) and close it with the classic ear shape of Sardinian Culurgiones. Boil the ravioli in abundant salted water and sauté them in a pan with a little butter emulsified with the potato broth
Finishing and presentation
Place 5 ravioli in a bowl. Distribute 7 cubes of fresh pecorino on top. Garnish with a few red sorrel leaves. On the side, serve the concentrated broth of roasted potatoes piping hot.
