Blecs del Friuli

Ingredients

• For the dough
• 240 g buckwheat flour, 60% of total flour weight
• 160 g type 00 wheat flour, 40% of total flour weight
• 3 eggs, whole, at room temperature
• 1 tsp fine salt
• For the sauce (smoked ricotta preparation)
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 80 g unsalted butter
• 120 g ricotta affumicata (Friulian smoked ricotta), coarsely grated

Method

1. 1
   Combine the buckwheat flour and wheat flour on a clean work surface. Make a well and break in the eggs with the salt. Work the mixture together with a fork, then bring it into a dough with the hands, kneading briefly — no more than two to three minutes. Buckwheat carries no gluten; the dough is done when it holds together as a rough, slightly tacky mass without crumbling. Do not work it further.
2. 2
   Divide the dough into two pieces. Using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, roll each piece to a thickness of 3 mm — measurably thicker than standard egg pasta. The sheet will be dark grey-brown and slightly coarse in texture. This thickness is where the dish lives or dies: roll thinner and the blecs will disintegrate against the weight of the sauce.
3. 3
   Cut or tear the rolled sheets into irregular rhomboid pieces of varying sizes — the name blecs means rag or irregular piece, and uneven edges are correct. A cutter that produces uniform shapes contradicts the form. Set the pieces aside on a floured board without stacking them; they are done when every piece is distinctly individual in size and outline.
4. 4
   Melt the butter in a wide pan over a low flame. Add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until completely soft and translucent with a faint gold at the edges. The onions are ready when they collapse entirely and offer no resistance to the spoon.
5. 5
   Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a full rolling boil. Drop in the blecs and cook until they rise to the surface and are just tender but retain a slight resistance — given the 3 mm thickness this will take longer than standard pasta. Taste one piece; the buckwheat flavour should be earthy and present, the texture firm without brittleness.
6. 6
   Lift the blecs from the water with a slotted spoon directly into the pan of slow-cooked onions. Toss briefly over a gentle flame to coat. Transfer to warmed plates and grate the ricotta affumicata generously over each portion at the table. The dish is complete when the warm smoke of the cheese meets the mineral earthiness of the buckwheat in the air above the plate.