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Drop the saffron threads into 1/2 cup of hot water in a spouted measuring cup, and let steep 5 minutes or longer.
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2
Pour in 3/4 cup cold water (so you have 1 1/4 cups total).
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3
Put the flour in the bowl of the food processor, and start the processor running.
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4
Pour in almost all of the saffron water through the feed tube (the threads can go in, too), reserving a couple of tablespoons.
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Process for 30 to 40 seconds, until a dough forms and gathers on the blade and cleans the sides of the bowl.
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6
If the dough is too sticky, add another tablespoon or two of flour.
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7
If it is too dry, add the remaining water.
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Process another 10 to 20 seconds.
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9
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, and knead by hand for a minute, until its smooth, soft, and stretchy.
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10
Press it into a disk, wrap well in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for at least 1/2 hour.
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(Refrigerate the dough for up to a day, or freeze for a month or more.
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12
Defrost in the refrigerator, and return to room temperature before rolling.)
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13
Cut the dough into eight pieces; work with one at a time, and keep the others covered with a towel or plastic wrap.
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14
Roll the dough under your hands on a clean work surface, first forming a smooth log and gradually stretching it into a long rope 1/2 inch thick.
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With a dough scraper or knife, chop the rope into 1/3-inch-long segments, like tiny cylinders; separate and lightly dust them with flour.
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16
To form malloreddus: Hold the grater-shredder at an angle against the work surface, turned so the back side or underside is exposed: You want this smooth surface of perforated holes to mark the pasta, not the rough surface of sharp edges and burrs that you would use for grating.
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(If you are using a box grater, you want the inside of the finest grating-shredding face; youll need to reach it through the bottom of the box.)
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Pick up one small piece of dough, and place it on the grater face.
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Press into it with your lightly floured thumb, and quickly push down and awayrolling it against the holes and flicking it off the grater in one movement.
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Its just like rolling gnocchi against the tines of a fork (and similar to plucking a guitar string).
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Roll all the cut segments into malloreddus, dust them with flour, and scatter them on a lightly floured tray, not touching.
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Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
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When all the pasta is formed, you can leave the malloreddus at room temperature until you are ready to cook.
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Or freeze them solid on the trays, and pack them airtight in plastic bags.
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Malloreddus is a traditional Sardinian pasta or gnocco (dumpling) made from semolina dough imbued with saffron.
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Like potato gnocchi, malloreddus are shaped by quickly rolling small bits of dough against a hard, patterned surface (a fork for potato gnocchi and a perforated grater for malloreddus).
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This flicking motion creates a short oval shell with a hollow inside and a textured outer surface, perfect for picking up a dressing or sauce.
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And the hard wheat dough gives each piece a wonderful chewy texture.
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In short, malloreddus is a little pasta with a big mouth-feel.
