🧈 Pizzoccheri alla valtellinese

Pizzoccheri alla valtellinese is a dish from the village of Teglio in the Valtellina valley (province of Sondrio, Lombardy): buckwheat pizzoccheri ribbons boiled together with vegetables, layered with cheese and dressed with butter fried with garlic. The dressing and serving set it apart from the pizzoccheri shape and the protected Pizzoccheri della Valtellina.

The Accademia del Pizzocchero di Teglio states that there is only one original recipe of the 'Pizzocchero di Teglio'. For four people: 400 g of buckwheat flour, 100 g of white wheat flour, 200 g of butter, 250 g of Valtellina Casera DOP cheese, 150 g of grana cheese for grating, 200 g of savoy cabbage, 250 g of potatoes, a garlic clove and pepper. The flours are mixed, kneaded with water for about 5 minutes and rolled out 2–3 mm thick; the sheet is cut into strips 7–8 cm wide, which are stacked and cut across into ribbons about 5 mm wide.

The cabbage and potatoes are boiled in salted water and the pizzoccheri go in after 5 minutes; potatoes are always included, while the cabbage can be swapped for chard or green beans depending on the season. After about 10 minutes the pizzoccheri are lifted out with a skimmer into a hot dish, layered with grated grana and flakes of Casera. The butter is fried with the garlic until well coloured and poured over without stirring, and the dish is served piping hot with ground pepper.

The Accademia Italiana della Cucina gives a version 'in the Teglio style' without potatoes: 350 g of buckwheat and 150 g of wheat flour, 500 g of cabbage in winter or chard in summer, more butter and cheese, and grated parmesan. For coeliacs the Teglio academy suggests gluten-free flour instead of white flour.