Fregola
Grain
Top 10 pairings
Fregola (also fregula) is a Sardinian pasta made of small, irregular balls of durum-wheat semolina that are rolled, dried and then toasted in the oven until golden-brown. Nutty, chewy and faintly smoky, the pearls hold their bite in broths and seafood stews and have drawn frequent comparison to a coarse, toasted couscous.
Picking a good onedrag
Amber, toasted, hard and rattling dryCrayon-stale, clumped or webbed
Pantry standardEveryday bestThe all-rounder - soups, grain salads, bottarga, saffron and sausage. It is pure durum wheat and carries gluten, so it is out for coeliac cooking.
Colour of the pearlsEvenly pale gold - lightly toasted, gentler flavour
Smell at the open bagQuiet and floury, only a trace of the toast left
A handful through your fingersA little pale semolina dust settled in the bottom
Shape and size of the pearlsMostly even, with a scatter of larger and smaller pearls