Pizzoccheri della Valtellina
The Valtellina's buckwheat ribbons, boiled with potatoes and savoy cabbage, layered with Casera cheese and Grana and flooded with garlic and sage butter.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 55 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Pizzoccheri are short, flat ribbons of buckwheat pasta from Teglio, in the Valtellina, the Alpine valley that runs east from Lake Como. They cook in one pot with diced potatoes and savoy cabbage, then go into a warm dish in layers with Valtellina Casera cheese and grated Grana, and are flooded with butter in which garlic and sage have just turned golden. Buckwheat has almost no gluten, so the dough takes a fifth of wheat flour to hold together and is cut thick: 2–3 mm, about 7 cm long and 1 cm wide. Start the potatoes first, add the cabbage, then the pasta for the last 10 minutes. Lift everything out with a slotted spoon rather than draining it, so it stays hot. Done is a steaming dish of earthy, nutty ribbons and soft vegetables, held together by strings of melted cheese and glistening with sage butter.
What you'll need
12 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Buckwheat flour400 g
- Wheat flour, plain wheat flour100 g
- Water, lukewarm, roughly250 ml
- Potato, peeled, in 2 cm dice250 g
- Savoy cabbage, cut into ribbons200 g
- Valtellina Casera, thinly sliced250 g
- Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano or Parmigiano, grated150 g
- Butter200 g
- Garlic, sliced1 clove
- Sage10 leaf
- Black pepper2½ ml
- Salt, for the water15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix the two flours and work in enough water to make a firm, smooth dough. Knead 5 minutes. Roll it out 2–3 mm thick, cut into strips 7 cm wide, then cut the strips into ribbons 1 cm wide.
25 min
Step 2
Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and cabbage and cook 5 minutes, then add the pizzoccheri and cook 10 minutes more.
15 min
Step 3
Meanwhile melt the butter with the garlic and sage and cook gently until the butter is golden and smells nutty.
5 min
Step 4
Lift pasta and vegetables out with a slotted spoon into a warm dish in layers, covering each with Casera, Grana and a spoon of the hot butter. Pour over the rest of the butter, add pepper and serve at once, mixing at the table.
5 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 1290 kcal
- Protein
- 47.3 g
- Carbs
- 113.6 g
- Fat
- 71.2 g
- Saturated fat
- 43.9 g
- Fibre
- 5.6 g
- Sugar
- 2.8 g
- Sodium
- 2622 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Vegetarian
Vegetarian only with a vegetarian Parmigiano Reggiano: the traditional cheese is made with animal rennet.
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 November.
Substitutions
Valtellina Casera → Fontina
Richer and softer, and much easier to find; Bitto is the valley's other cheese.
Tips
- Buckwheat dough cracks if it dries: keep what you are not rolling under a bowl.
- Dried pizzoccheri are sold in Italian delis; cook them about 12 minutes.
History & culture
Teglio's Accademia del Pizzocchero guards the recipe and its proportions, and the town holds a pizzoccheri festival each summer. It is mountain food for cold nights and hard work, served in the valley's crotti, the cool cellar taverns, with a glass of local Nebbiolo. In summer, cooks swap the cabbage for chard or green beans.
Buckwheat reached the Valtellina around the sixteenth century and thrived on its steep, thin soils where wheat struggled, so the valley's everyday pasta was made from it. Pizzoccheri were peasant food long before they were a tourist dish. Dried Pizzoccheri della Valtellina became an EU Protected Geographical Indication in 2016.
Traditional — The Teglio proportions: four parts buckwheat to one of wheat flour, potatoes, savoy cabbage, Valtellina Casera, Grana, butter, garlic and sage.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Pizzoccheri della Valtellina take?
55 min all in — 35 min prep, 20 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian.
6 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Rolling pin, Stockpot, Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tbsp (for the water).
What can I use instead?
Valtellina Casera → Fontina. Richer and softer, and much easier to find; Bitto is the valley's other cheese.
Any tips from this recipe?
Buckwheat dough cracks if it dries: keep what you are not rolling under a bowl. Dried pizzoccheri are sold in Italian delis; cook them about 12 minutes.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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