This old-fashioned bread casserole is a classic of Gallura in the northeastern part of Sardinia. I don’t totally endorse a visit there in the high season (though I love every single other part of the island), because it is totally inundated with tourists thanks to the development of the nearby Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast) by Aga Khan IV and others in the second half of the twentieth century. For lack of a better word, they decimated the local culture to make way for tacky nightclubs and posh resorts. The coastal restaurants don’t offer much in the way of traditional Sardinian flavors, catering instead to an international palate, but there are a few remaining pockets of inland rural areas and working farms where you can find the simple peasant food of the zone. This Suppa Cuata (called zuppa gallurese in Italian), a sheep’s-milk cheese and bread casserole, is one regional dish that has been persevered, and it brings together the traditional cornerstones of gallurese cuisine: shepherding and baking. Unless you’re making this in Sardinia, you’ll have to replace the typical cheeses, panedda or casizolu, with another good melting cheese like provolone.

Serve with another Sardinian classic, Agnello Brasato.