Sardinian Seadas are traditional sweets served as dessert in most traditional restaurants in Sardinia. If you have never seen them before, Seadas look like giant ravioli that are filled with cheese, fried and covered in sugar or honey. Admittedly, it doesn’t look like much, but this very simple dessert combines cheese and honey, one of my favourite combinations, and therefore I often crave it! It was about time I learned to make this staple of Sardinian food at home, and I’m very proud of how it turned out!

This version is inspired by a Seada I tasted in a restaurant called ‘Ai Monti del Gennargentu’ near Orgosolo, a town very well known for its colourful and socially committed murals. It was easily the best Seada I’ve ever had, thanks to its amazing orange aroma it carried. 

Traditionally, Seadas have a filling of young pecorino cheese. But it would be incredibly hard for me to find it here in Singapore, so replacing it with Provola or Provolone is easy, saves time and does not compromise on taste!

Ingredients:

• 250g Semola rimacinata
• 25g lard (I used butter and it went just fine)
• 120g lukewarm water
• 1 pinch of salt

• 250g provola or provolone
• 0.5 lemon or orange zest (I prefer orange)
• EVOO for frying
• Orange blossom honey for garnishing or sugar

• Rolling pin / pasta machine
• 11.5 cm round cutter

Step 1 – Add the salt to the semola. Rub the butter together with the semola. Then start adding the water gradually and knead until you have a smooth texture in the dough. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Step 2 – Cut the cheese in round slices 1 cm thick (if you are using provolone), or cubes and place it on a side. Grate the orange zest and save it on a side.

Step 3 – Stretch the dough using a rolling pin or a pasta machine. I used a pasta machine and stretched it gradually until I got sheets about 3 mm thick. I got 2 x 50 cm long sheets.

Step 4 – On one sheet, place the cheese to create the centre of your raviolo-shaped pastry. Leave space in-between so you are preparing to have three bases for your Seadas. Add some orange/lemon zest on top of the cheese.

Step 5 – Place the second sheet on top of the base. Press gently with your fingers around the cheese to let any trapped air out. Then using the cutter, create 3 giant ravioli.

Step 6 – Put together the remaining dough, knead it, and repeat. This should give you 3 more Seadas.

Step 7 – In a deep frying pan, warm up abundant EVO oil. Once it reaches 160°C, start frying the Seadas. It will take about 1.5 mins per side to get them nice and golden.

Step 8 – Best served warm, garnish them with the remaining orange zest and a drizzle of orange blossom honey to enhance the orange flavour. If you don’t have this specific honey, you can use others of course, or simply dust your Seadas with sugar (icing or granulated) before serving – many prefer this version of this Sardinian sweet.