How To Make Ciciones Pasta

Ciciones (pronounced chee-choh-nes and also spelled cicciones or cigiones) means ‘fat ones’ in Italian, which is such an appropriate name for this hand-rolled Sardinian pasta!

Ciciones can be simply cut into little fat chunks, rolled into chickpea-sized balls, or rolled down a gnocchi board (similar to cavatelli) to give them a grooved texture that the sauce clings to even better; the photo on this page shows all three.

I’ve seen the grooved version referred to as ciccioneddos (literally ‘little fat ones’ in Sardinian dialect), but this could just be a regional difference as Sardinia has many dialects.

Ciciones are made from the same simple pasta dough used to make lombrichi (see video below) and are perfect served with rich pork sausage ragù (alla Campidanese).

Learn more about how to make fresh pasta here – including tips on technique, equipment and ingredients – and see my page on how to cook pasta for perfect results every time.

To make enough ciciones to serve 6–8 as a starter, you’ll need:

Coarse semolina, for dusting tray (called semola in Italian and often just ‘semolina’ in English)
Plain flour, for dusting board
1 quantity Sardinian Pasta Dough (about 550g/1lb 3oz)
Large tray
Sharp knife or pastry scraper
Gnocchi board (optional)
Tea towel, for covering

Here’s how to make ciciones:

Dust a large tray lightly with coarse semolina and place to one side of your work bench.
Divide dough into eighths and use the palms of your hands to roll each piece into a log about 1cm (½″) thick. Only if it starts to stick, dust the bench with a little flour.
Cut the log into 1cm (½″) lengths.
The ciciones can be left like this, rolled between the palms of your hands into little balls, or rolled down a gnocchi board.
Whichever shape you decide on, place them on the tray and toss well in the semolina so they don’t stick together.
Repeat with remaining dough then cover with a clean cloth and set aside. Ciciones can sit, covered, on the semolina-dusted tray in a cool place for a few hours before cooking.

Here’s how to cook ciciones:

Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil, using 10g salt/litre water (⅓oz salt/2 pints water).
Shake excess semolina off the pasta, add ciciones to the water and stir well.
Return to the boil and cook for 12–15 minutes, until they’re tender and no longer taste floury. Timing depends on how long the ciciones have been sitting before cooking, and on how tender you like them; test after 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat sauce over a low heat.
As soon as ciciones are cooked, scoop them directly from the water into your favourite sauce, toss and serve.
If cooking ciciones ahead of time: drain well (reserving some of the pasta cooking water), toss with a little olive oil, cover and set aside then reheat in the sauce adding a little of the reserved cooking water.

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Pasta Dough for Ciciones & Lombrichi

Ciciones FAQ

Are ciciones the same as malloreddus?

Ciciones are closely related to malloreddus – Sardinia’s best-known pasta – small ridged shells of semolina and water also sold as gnocchetti sardi.

The family goes by different names around the island: malloreddus in the Campidano plains of the south, and cigiones or ciccioneddos (cicioneddos) around Sassari in the north.

Ciciones are generally chunkier, somewhere between gnocchi and malloreddus.

Why are ciciones sometimes yellow?

Ciciones are often coloured with saffron, which gives the pasta a lovely golden colour.

Sardinia grows more than half of Italy’s saffron – mostly around the Medio Campidano in the south of the island, where it’s used in many traditional Sardinian dishes.

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