Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, the recipe from Teglio: handmade buckwheat pasta, potatoes, Savoy cabbage, Casera and garlic butter, in just over an hour.
Introduction
Pizzoccheri are the dish of the Valtellina, and in particular of Teglio, the village on the sunny side of the valley that claims to be their birthplace. They are short, wide ribbons of pasta, made with buckwheat flour and a little wheat flour, cooked in the same pot as the potatoes and the Savoy cabbage, and then dressed in layers with cheese and with butter fried with garlic. It is a mountain dish in the fullest sense: few ingredients, the ones the valley had, and enough calories to get through a day in the cold. The dark colour of the pasta and its slightly rustic, almost nutty flavour come from buckwheat, which is not a cereal but the seed of a herbaceous plant, and which was grown on the Valtellina terraces wherever wheat yielded little.
Three things matter. The pasta, which must be made by hand and cut two or three millimetres thick: any thinner and it breaks while cooking, any thicker and it stays raw inside. The cheese, which must be Valtellina Casera, a semi-skimmed cow's milk cheese that melts without turning rubbery; the grana on top is there to add savouriness. And the final order: the pizzoccheri are drained in layers into a very hot baking dish, alternating pasta and cheese, and the garlic butter is poured over them sizzling, at the last moment, without stirring. It is the heat of the butter that melts the cheese, and the dish goes to the table straight away.
For the white part of the dough we use the Aurum Type 1 Soft Wheat Flour, stone-ground: it is a strong flour, and that small share of gluten is enough to hold together the buckwheat, which has none of its own. In the glass, the Pinot Nero IGT Alicea by La Caneva dei Biasio, a light, fresh red that cuts through the butter and the cheese; for those who want to stay in Lombardy, the Franciacorta Brut by Muratori.
The Story of Pizzoccheri
Buckwheat reached the Valtellina between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and it stayed because it suited the land where wheat struggled: it grows quickly, it can be sown even after the rye harvest and it tolerates the poor soils of the terraces. For centuries it was the everyday flour of the valley's farming families, together with the maize for polenta. Pizzoccheri were born there, like polenta taragna and sciatt, the buckwheat fritters filled with cheese: a way of making a humble grain hearty, by setting beside it the potatoes and cabbage from the vegetable garden and the cheese from the mountain pastures.
Teglio considers itself their homeland, and in 2002 the Accademia del Pizzocchero was founded there, setting down a reference recipe: four parts buckwheat to one part white flour, potatoes, Savoy cabbage, Valtellina Casera, grana and garlic butter. Every family then has its own version. Instead of the cabbage, chard or green beans are used, depending on the season, and many add a few sage leaves to the butter. Since 2016 dried Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, the ones you buy in packets, have been an IGP product; the homemade version is still the one the valley prepares on Sundays.
Ingredients
For the pasta
- buckwheat flour400 g
- Aurum Farina di Grano tenero tipo 1100 g
- lukewarm water280 ml
For the dressing
- potatoes250 g
- Savoy cabbage200 g
- Valtellina Casera DOP cheese250 g
- grated grana150 g
- butter200 g
- garlic1 clove
- sagea few leaves
- saltto taste
- black pepperto taste
Equipment Needed
- Pastry board or large work surface
- Rolling pin
- Large plain-bladed knife
- Large pot for the pasta and vegetables
- Slotted spoon
- Baking dish, to be warmed beforehand
- Small pan for the butter
Tip: Warm the baking dish before you start draining, in the oven at 100 °C or resting on top of the boiling pot: pizzoccheri are dressed in layers, and in a cold dish the cheese of the first layers sets before the butter arrives. The slotted spoon is there for the same reason: they are drained a spoonful at a time, a little at a time, and the bit of cooking water that clings to the pasta helps the cheese melt.
How to Make Pizzoccheri della Valtellina — Original Recipe
The dough
Mix the two flours on the board and make a well. Pour the lukewarm water into the centre a little at a time, drawing in the flour with a fork and then with your hands. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, until it is firm and smooth, then wrap it in a tea towel and let it rest for half an hour.
Chef's tip: Buckwheat has no gluten, and the dough stays less elastic than egg pasta dough: that is normal. If it crumbles add a spoonful of water, if it sticks to your hands a pinch of wheat flour.
The cutting
Roll out the dough with the rolling pin to a thickness of two or three millimetres. Cut it into bands seven or eight centimetres wide, stack the bands and cut them crosswise into strips half a centimetre wide. Spread the pizzoccheri out on the floured board, so they do not stick to one another.
Chef's tip: Thickness matters more than shape: under two millimetres the pasta breaks while cooking, over three it stays raw in the middle while the outside is already done.
The cooking
Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks, and cut the cabbage into strips. Put them in a pot of boiling salted water and, after five minutes, add the pizzoccheri. Cook everything together for about ten minutes, until the pasta is tender and a fork slides through the potatoes. Meanwhile cut the Casera into thin shavings.
Chef's tip: The potatoes go into the pot before the pasta because they cook more slowly: put in together, they would still be hard when the pasta is done. The cabbage, on the other hand, should keep a little bite.
The layers and the butter
With the slotted spoon, lift out part of the pizzoccheri with the vegetables and spread them in the hot baking dish. Cover with a little grana and shaved Casera and carry on in layers to the end, finishing with cheese. In the small pan melt the butter with the crushed garlic and the sage and let it turn golden. Pour it sizzling over the pizzoccheri, without stirring, grind over some pepper and serve straight away.
Chef's tip: The butter should turn hazelnut-coloured, not dark: that is where it picks up its aroma. Remove the garlic before pouring if you do not want it left in the dish.
Wine to Pair with Pizzoccheri della Valtellina
Pizzoccheri are a mountain dish, and what they put on the plate is above all fat. There is butter, plenty of it, sizzled with garlic and sage and poured over at the last moment. There is cheese, the Valtellina Casera that turns stringy between the layers and the grated grana on top. And underneath there is a base with nothing delicate about it: the buckwheat pasta, rustic and slightly bitter, the cabbage and the potatoes cooked in the same water. Hence what the wine is asked to do. It needs acidity, the only thing that lifts the butter and the melted cheese off the palate between one forkful and the next, because a soft wine with no backbone seems as heavy as the dish after the second mouthful. And it needs a light tannin: with a tannic red the cabbage and the cheese turn bitter, and the buckwheat already has a slightly bitter note of its own that should not be reinforced. In the Valtellina itself they drink the local Nebbiolo, which there is called Chiavennasca, in its younger versions. The roads we suggest are two: a light, fresh red, or a sparkling wine that cuts the fat.
The Red We Recommend
Pinot nero IGT Alicea — La Caneva dei Biasio — The **Pinot Nero IGT Alicea by La Caneva dei Biasio** is a pure Pinot Nero from hillside vineyards on glacial deposits, vinified with maceration on the skins and aged in steel only. It is a red built for freshness, and that is what pizzoccheri need. The colour is a pale ruby, the body light, 12% vol: it does not have the weight to compete with the butter and the cheese, and it does not try. It works through its acidity, which the technical sheet describes as fresh and lively, and which with every sip carries away the film of butter and the melted Casera from the palate. The tannins are young but fine, so they do not harden against the cabbage and add no bitterness to the buckwheat. The aromas of morello cherry and raspberry bring a note of fruit the dish does not have, and the spicy background of clove and cinnamon leans on the sage and on the toasted flavour of the dark pasta. The limit has to be said: on a very rich dish of pizzoccheri, with plenty of cheese and darkened butter, the wine stays lighter than the dish and what you mostly taste is its freshness. With this dish that is more a virtue than a fault, but those looking for a red that stands level with it should choose something more structured. Serve it at 16 °C, the lowest of the temperatures the producer gives: slightly cool, the acidity comes through more.
Want to know more about the grape? our guide to Pinot Nero
The Lombard Alternative
Franciacorta D.O.C.G. Brut — Muratori — Those who want to stay in Lombardy, the dish's own region, can leave the red aside and reach for the bubbles. The **Franciacorta Brut by Muratori** is a traditional-method sparkling wine made mainly from Chardonnay, from vineyards in all six of Franciacorta's vocational zones, aged at least eighteen months on the lees. On pizzoccheri it does with its carbon dioxide what the Pinot Nero does with its acidity, and more decisively: the bubbles carry away the butter and the cheese with every sip, and the mouth is clean again before the next forkful. The pronounced acidity and the dry finish, with 4 grams of sugar per litre, keep the wine far from any softness that would pile on top of the Casera. The notes of green apple and citron bring a fresh contrast to a dish that is all hot and cooked. The limit lies in the aroma: the cabbage and the buckwheat have an earthy flavour that a Chardonnay wine does not pick up, it only sits beside it, and those who love the rustic side of the dish will find a closer companion in the red. With 12,5% vol, serve it at 6-8 °C, in a white wine glass rather than a flute.
Want to learn more about the grape? our guide to Franciacorta
Craft Beer as an Alternative
Reckless Bock Beer — doppio malto — Buckwheat has a toasted, almost nutty flavour, and a malty beer meets it at close range. The **Reckless Bock by Norah's Farm** is a bottom-fermented Dunkel Bock from the Venetian foothills, deep copper in colour, with 7% vol. The caramel and dried fruit of the malt bind with the dark pasta and the butter sizzled with sage, and the carbonation does on the melted cheese the job that acidity does in wine. The hops, which the producer marks as low, stay in the background, and this matters: a pronounced bitterness on the cabbage and the buckwheat would add to theirs and close up the mouth. The limit is the beer's sweet finish, which together with a dish already this rich can tire after the first glass: with a generous portion the wine is the lighter companion. Serve it at 8-10 °C: any colder and the malty notes stay closed.
Want to explore the style? dark and doppelbock beers
Serve It With
Pizzoccheri are a meal in themselves, and alongside they ask for nothing more than a green salad dressed with a little vinegar, which refreshes the mouth between one mouthful and the next. In the Valtellina they are often served after a starter of bresaola and cheeses from the valley, but in small portions: the dish that follows is already generous.
To end the meal, a piece of fruit or a few slices of apple is enough. Those who want a local dessert can bring bisciola to the table, the sweet Christmas bread with dried figs, raisins and walnuts, which in autumn can be found in the valley's bakeries.
Variations
- With chard or green beans: in summer, when there is no Savoy cabbage, the Valtellina uses chard cut into pieces or green beans. They go into the pot together with the potatoes, because they cook in the same time.
- With dried pasta: Pizzoccheri della Valtellina IGP are sold in packets, and they cut forty minutes off the recipe. They are cooked like fresh ones, but the time should be read on the packet, usually around ten to twelve minutes.
- With other cheeses: outside the Valtellina, Casera is often replaced with fontina or with a semi-skimmed dairy cheese that melts well. The flavour changes little; what does not work is a cheese that is too aged, which separates in the heat and turns oily.
- Baked au gratin: after the last layer and the butter, the dish spends five minutes in a hot oven at 200 °C, until the cheese on top forms a light crust. It is a handy version when the pizzoccheri are prepared in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between pizzoccheri and tagliatelle?
The flour and the dressing. Pizzoccheri are made with about four parts **buckwheat** to one part wheat flour, without eggs, and that is why they are dark and have a rustic flavour. They are also shorter and thicker than tagliatelle. And they are not dressed with a sauce: they are cooked with the potatoes and the Savoy cabbage and served in layers with the cheese and the garlic butter.
Can pizzoccheri be made gluten-free?
Buckwheat contains no gluten, but the traditional recipe adds a share of wheat flour, which holds the dough together. You can use buckwheat alone, kneading with lukewarm water and rolling a little thicker, but the pasta stays more fragile and breaks easily while cooking. People with coeliac disease must also use a buckwheat flour certified gluten-free.
What can Valtellina Casera be replaced with?
With a semi-skimmed cow's milk cheese that melts well, such as **fontina** or a lightly aged dairy cheese. It is better to avoid cheeses that are too aged, which separate in the heat of the butter and leave oil in the dish. The grana on top stays: it is there for savouriness, not for stringiness.
Can pizzoccheri be prepared in advance?
The pasta, yes: it can be rolled out and cut a few hours ahead and left to dry on the floured board, covered with a tea towel. The finished dish, however, must be served straight away, because as it cools the cheese hardens. If there are leftovers, warm them the next day in a frying pan with a knob of butter, and they become almost a crisp frittata.
Which wine goes with pizzoccheri?
A **light red, with lively acidity and few tannins**: the acidity lifts the butter and the melted cheese off the palate, and a light tannin does not harden against the cabbage and the buckwheat. A young **Pinot Nero** answers well. In the Valtellina they drink the valley's Nebbiolo, in its younger versions. Those who prefer bubbles can choose a **Franciacorta Brut**, which cuts the fat even more; alternatively, a dark, malty beer with little hopping.
