Pizzoccheri della Valtellina or Buckwheat Noodles

My BFF was in Northern Italy on a short trip from Switzerland and bought these special  buckwheat noodles.

In the valley of Valtellina in the Lombardy buckwheat is grown since the 1600s. It is usually eaten with some kind of cabbage and potatoes. To enrich it, cheese and butter are added.

I used Savoy cabbage for this dish. The recipe is from Tavolamia and I found it on Pinterest. The buckwheat noodles are very dense and they need a long time to cook. But be careful, they are very hard a long time and then from one moment to the other they are soft.

Butter and a little garlic is in the recipe, I used more butter and three times the amount of garlic. But that was my interpretation of the recipe and I loved it.

Recipe for 2:

145 g Pizzoccheri

240 g Savoy cabbage

3 small potatoes

6 garlic cloves

75 g butter

3 tbsp fresh dill, 2 tbsp fresh parsley, 1 tsp fresh basil

125 g cheese like Fontina or Taleggio ( I used Kraxler, a semihard aromatic mountain cheese) look for Valtellina cheese.

Salt and pepper

In a large pot with salted water start the cubed potatoes in cold water. Cook them 3 minutes and add the shredded cabbage. Cook 2 minutes and add the Pizzoccheri. Cook fir 12 to 15 min, check the noodles. Drain in a colander.

While this cooks, put an empty baking dish in the oven at 100 C to warm through.

In a small pan melt the butter and add the chopped garlic. Cook it on medium to get soft, but not burn. Cube the cheese in smaller pieces and chop the herbs. 

Take the baking dish out of the oven and start layering so that the cheese has the chance to melt. Butter with garlic helps. Add pepper and a little salt. Stir in the herbs and fold everything. Serve hot, cheese pull is included.