Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese Italian Buckwheat Pasta.

Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese is an unusual but delicious traditional buckwheat pasta dish from the small town of Teglio in the Valtellina, a very beautiful and fertile valley in the Lombardy region of Italy This is typical hearty and warming mountain fare, perfect for the cold season! 

Pizzoccheri is a healthy pasta.

Nowadays, pizzoccheri, contains two-thirds buckwheat flour (farina di grano saraceno in Italian) and a third soft wheat flour. The buckwheat is what gives this pasta its grey/brown colour. Buckwheat is very healthy and rich in antioxidants and polyphenols and the flour is gluten free.

Industrially produced pizzoccheri may not have the same amount of buckwheat flour as tradition dictates. However, even twenty-five percent buckwheat produces a pasta which is not only healthier than other types, but very flavourful.

Pizzoccheri origins.

Buckwheat has been cultivated in the Valtellina for centuries. At the end of the 1800s, there were about 5,000 acres of buckwheat being cultivated there. However, only 50 acres remain today, mostly around the town of Teglio.

Buckwheat production declined drastically with the rise of industrialisation in the 1950s and was replaced by more lucrative high yield crops like wheat, which, nowadays, is combined with buckwheat flour to make pizzoccheri.

However, apart from pizzoccheri, buckwheat is also used in the Valtellina to make other traditional recipes such as type of spaghetti called fidelin, polenta (known as polenta taragna), gnocchi, chisciöi della Valtellina (a cheese filled pancake), sciatt (deep fried battered cheese balls) and various cakes, breads and breadsticks!

You can also find other types of buckwheat pasta outside of the Valtellina such as blecs from Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Making homemade pizzoccheri.

Founded in 2002 by a group of chefs, farmers and residents in Teglio, the Accademia del Pizzochero di Teglio (Teglio Pizzocchero Academy) states that the official Pizzoccheri di Teglio recipe must include pasta made from 75% buckwheat flour, 25% wheat flour and water.

On a recent visit to the Valtellina, my husband and I enjoyed pizzoccheri in a local farm restaurant called La Fattoria (the farm) that specializes in buckwheat dishes including pizzoccheri.

The owner/chef of that establishment told me that she makes her pizzoccheri with soft wheat flour and two types of buckwheat flour (fine and large grains). I used both types of buckwheat flour to make my pizzoccheri. But, of course, you can use just one type.

Ingredients for homemade pizzoccheri pasta.

As mentioned above, pizzoccheri pasta is made with buckwheat flour, soft wheat flour and warm water, plus a little salt. The ratio for buckwheat flour to soft wheat flour is 3:1, so 75% buckwheat flour and 25% soft wheat flour.

Originally, pizzoccheri was made with only buckwheat flour. One of the reasons, they now use soft wheat flour is that buckwheat flour is gluten free. Gluten from the wheat flour acts as an adhesive, increasing the pasta's durability. Buckwheat-only pasta can be more delicate and needs to be cooked immediately before it falls apart.

Step by step instructions for homemade buckwheat pasta.

1) Sift the flour into a bowl, add a teaspoon of salt and mix together.

2) Pour in the warm water and mix the flour and water together using a fork.

3) Use your hands to knead the flour and water together until you can make a ball.

4) Turn the dough out onto a flour dusted work top and knead a bit more until it's quite soft and pliable.

5) Use a rolling pin to roll out half the dough until it's about 2-3mm thick (about ⅛ of an inch). You may need to cut off the uneven edges to make a useable rectangle pasta sheet. Pizzoccheri dough can have crumbly edges. It's also not easy to make classic pizzoccheri with a pasta machine. A rolling pin is best.

6) Cut your dough sheet into long strands which you can cut in half if required. Traditional pizzoccheri is about 7-8cms (3in) in length. But you can make it longer.

7) Place the ready pizzoccheri buckwheat pasta on a well floured tray and repeat with the rest of the dough.

How to serve pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese buckwheat pasta.

In the Valtellina, pizzoccheri pasta is almost always served in one particular way together with potatoes, local cheese, cabbage, garlic and lots of unsalted butter. Cheese and potatoes are staples in many Alpine regions, and you can find them used together in dishes throughout the Alps, including Switzerland, France and Austria!

Ingredients for the finished dish.

Potatoes: Waxy potatoes are best for this dish. They have less starch and will hold together better when cooked. Red potatoes, fingerlings and new potatoes are types of waxy potatoes you can use. Yellow potatoes such as yukon gold are also less startchy than other types.

Cheese: The cheese most traditionally used with pizzoccheri is Valtellina casera DOP or bitto DOP and some grated grana padano. Casera is a cow's milk cheese produced from milk that comes from herds in the Valtellina valley. It's produced according to a tradition that is hundreds of years old! Bitto is made from summer milk from herds grazing on the hills of the valley plus a small percentage of goat's milk. 

Of course, apart from the grana padano, these cheeses are hard to find outside of Lombardy. However, you can replace them with other types of cheeses that melt well like fontina cheese or Gruyere. In the past, I have made pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese with fontina.

The cabbage: Known as verza in Italian, Savoy cabbage is the vegetable served with pizzoccheri. If you don't have savoy cabbage, Napa cabbage, Bok Choy, green cabbage or even kale can be used instead, although using one of these may slightly alter the taste of the finished dish. When Savoy cabbage isn't in season, Italians also use Swiss chard or green beans instead.

Other ingredients: Apart from the above, the traditional condiment for Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese has garlic, salt and pepper and butter. The latter is usually unsalted as Italians rarely use salted butter.

Step by step instructions.

1) Prepare the ingredients; wash and chop the cabbage, cube the casera or bitto, peel and cube the potatoes and peel the garlic.

2) Cook the cabbage and cubes of potato in a large pot of salted water over a medium heat until the potatoes are al dente.

3) Add the pizzoccheri buckwheat pasta and cook until ready. Cooking time for your pasta will depend on the thickness and whether it was homemade (like mine) or dried.

4) Melt the butter in a pan with the peeled garlic cloves.

5) Drain the pasta, cabbage and potatoes and make a couple of layers in a large casserole dish with cubed cheese and grated grana between the layers and on top. If you use an oven-proof dish, you can also bake before serving.

6) When ready to serve (or bake) your pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese, spoon or pour over the garlic infused melted butter afer removing the garlic cloves.

What to do with leftovers.

Leftover pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese is delicious baked in the oven with some more grated grana sprinkled on top. You can keep leftovers sealed in the fridge for up to 2 days. I don't recommend freezing this dish.

Is this recipe vegetarian?

The cheeses in this recipe aren't vegetarian as they are traditionally made with animal rennet. To make this dish vegetarian use a vegetarian parmesan cheese and gruyere or fontina cheese. Always check the label before using to be sure a cheese is suitable for vegetarians.

Some changes to the original recipe!

I must confess, sometimes I make a couple of changes to the official pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese recipe. These are based on other recipes I found and my husband’s partiality for pancetta! You can watch pizzoccheri being made in the Valtellina in this video from Pasta Grannies.

Firstly, I reduce the amount of butter and I add some sage to it because I love that salvia e burro combination. Plus, as mentioned before I bake the dish rather than serving it unbaked. And, occasionally add pancetta! Not traditional but very good!

If you cannot find pizzoccheri, this recipe can also be made with other types of buckwheat or whole wheat pasta, short pasta or flat ribbons cut into pieces.

Let me know what you think.

If you do try this pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese buckwheat pasta recipe from northern Italy, I’d love to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.

Your feedback means a lot to me!

Buon Appetito!

This recipe was originally published in 2017 but has been updated.

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Other warming pasta recipes here on The Pasta Project.

1. Gnocchi alla Bava recipe from the Val d'Aosta
2. Baked ziti or zitoni with spicy sausage recipe from Naples
3. Cheesy baked pasta shells
4. Baked Tuscan gnudi with tomato sauce
5. Cheesey potato gnocchi from Friuli-Venezia Giulia.