Arra

Arra is the brand of the pasta workshop I Sapori d'Ogliastra ("Flavours of Ogliastra") in Lanusei, eastern Sardinia. According to the company's history, Vito Arra founded it in 2004 in Cardedu as a sole proprietorship making traditional fresh pasta. He set out to take culurgiones, then barely known outside Sardinia, to other markets. As demand grew, production moved to the industrial zone of Lanusei, where it still operates; about twenty people work there, and the products are sold across Italy and abroad.

The main speciality is Culurgionis d'Ogliastra IGP: fresh pasta filled with potato, cheese, oil and sometimes mint, closed by hand with a seam shaped like an ear of wheat. The EU granted them a protected geographical indication in 2016. The workshop makes the Arra Culurgionis d'Ogliastra IGP line in a classic version and with mint.

Other fresh pastas are Arra Ravioli (potato and cheese, ricotta and spinach), Arra Malloreddus, including a three-colour version with spinach, carrot and saffron, and Arra Gnocchi di patate. Arra also makes sweet sebadas and pardulas, plus "savoury pardulas" filled with potato, cheese and mint.

The company says its processes are mostly automated, but culurgiones and pardulas are still largely made by hand. Where possible, raw materials come from the island: cheeses, oils and herbs. Products are packed in clear trays, and the workshop holds PGI and BRC certification.