Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese (Handmade Buckwheat Noodles)
We stumbled upon this delightful dish during our January visit to San Moritz, Switzerland. The 7.5 hour journey on the Glacier Express took us from Zermatt and fed us a non-ending fare of stunning winter scapes of the Swiss Alps. We ended our trip in the frigid San Moritz at night fall and the dated grand dame hotel, eager to tuck into a cosy restaurant to enjoy the local fare. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much near the hotel other than ski lifts. The 4-5 eateries nearby were all associated with the ski hotel(s) and most of them fully booked, presumably by hotel guests with no where to go. We finally convinced the maître d' to let us sit at the bar of a Swiss food restaurant. This delightful regional buckwheat noodle specialty came highly recommended by the cheerful waitress. I was so taken by this dish that I took a picture of the menu and returned home eager to recreate the experieince.
It turns out this dish hails from Valtellina, a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy bordering Switzerland, which makes perfect sense when we found out that San Moritz practically sits near the border. This Youtube link showcases how Italian grannies made this hearty winter fare. My adaptations: 1) Substiting olive oil for most of the butter, and reducing the overall quntity called for in the typical recipe. 2) Adding a little vinegar to the buckwheat dough to soften the texture. Buon appetito!
Ingredients:
400g buckwheat flour
100g Caputo 00 Pizza Flour or bread flour
285g water at room temperature
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
20g butter
60g extra virgin olive oil
180g Swiss Cheese
40g Romamo or Parmasan cheese
250g yellow potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
8 cloves garlic
Savory cabbage or swiss chard
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Mix together flours, water, and vinegar, and form dough (add more water if needed)
Let dough rest for 1 hour before rolling out to about 2-3 mm thick, cut in short strips
Fry garlic in butter and olive oil over gentle heat for 5 minutes
Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook potatoes for about 10 minutes
Add leafy vegetables and cook for about 2 minutes. (if using chard, cook chopped stems separately in garlic oil until softened, about 5 minutes)
Add pasta and cook for 3-5 minutes, taste for al dente
Pour water out of pot and strain all remaining content (potatoes, vegetables, and pasta)
Put everything piping hot on large serving platter
Layer cheeses over pasta mixture and grind healthy dose of black pepper
Pour over hot garlic oil mixture and mix until cheeses are melted
Enjoy while warm