Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese Italian buckwheat pasta recipe.
Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese is a warming and nutritious vegetarian buckwheat pasta dish from the Italian Alps. Make it with your own homemade buckwheat pasta or ready-made. Full of Alpine flavors and perfect for the cold season.
Servings: 4
Calories: 912kcal
Equipment
- 1 large bowl to start dough
- 1 wood pastry board. to knead dough and cut out pasta
- 1 sharp knife
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 cutting board to prepare vegetales and cheese
- 1 large pot to cook vegetables and pasta
- 1 rectangular ceramic or pyrex oven dish if baking or serving dish.
Ingredients
- 11 ounces pizzoccheri or buckwheat pasta if not making homemade
- 7 ounces savoy cabbage or Swiss chard cut into small pieces with any tough stalks removed.
- 9 ounces waxy potatoes peeled and cut into smallish cubes
- 3.5 ounces unsalted butter
- 9 ounces Valtellina Casera DOP or Bitto, Gruyere or Fontina cheese cut into cubes
- 5 ounces Grana Padano grated
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- Freshly ground pepper
- salt for cooking and to taste
For homemade pizzoccheri pasta.
- 7 ounces buckwheat flour
- 1.5 ounces Italian '00'soft wheat flour or all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
- 4.75 fluid ounces tepid water you may need a little more
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and start cooking the potatoes and the greens in it.
- After 5 minutes, add the pasta and let it cook for a further 10 minutes ( the pasta needs to be al dente).
- In the meantime, in a small pan, melt the butter with the cloves of garlic and cook until both the butter and the garlic are golden
- Remove the garlic clove and set aside until the pasta is ready.
- Drain the pizzoccheri and vegetables and place half or one third of the mixture into an oven or serving dish (depending on the size and depth of your dish)
- Scatter a handful of the chopped cheese over the top and sprinkle with some of the grated cheese,
- Add more pizzoccheri and vegetables scatter again with the chopped and grated cheese
- Repeat until you have used all the vegetables and pizzoccheri and the cheese is uniformly distributed through and on top of the dish.
- Pour over the frothy, browned butter
- Serve immediately
If baking before serving
- Sprinkle with a bit more grana and grind some pepper on the top
- Bake in a preheated oven (180° or 350F) until the cheese on the top starts to turn golden.(about 5-10 mins)
Making homemade pizzoccheri pasta.
- Sift the flour (buckwheat and soft wheat) into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt.
- Add water whilst mixing the flour and water together with a fork. Once well incorporated, use your hands to knead and form a dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a flour dusted worktop and knead a little more until soft and pliable.
- Cut off half the dough and roll it out to about 5mmm thickness. Cut off the crumbly edges to make a rectangle. Then cut ribbons of about 5mm wide and 8cm in length. You can make your pizzoccheri longer if you wish (I do)
- Place the ready pasta strands on a flour dusted tray and repeat with the rest of the dough.
Notes
Homemade pizzoccheri is best cooked quite quickly after making as it's quite delicate.
Leftovers are delicious baked.
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 and gruyere or fontina. Always check the label before using to be sure a cheese is suitable for vegetarians.
Nutrition
Calories: 912kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 31g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 1053mg | Potassium: 641mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1555IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 1131mg | Iron: 4mg