Valtellina, Lombardia/Trentino border — pizzoccheri are the defining pasta of the Valtellina valley, produced and eaten in the mountain zone between Sondrio and the Swiss border. The IGP denomination 'Pizzoccheri della Valtellina IGP' protects the preparation.
Pizzoccheri are the buckwheat pasta of the Valtellina — thick, short, flat noodles made from a mixture of buckwheat flour (grano saraceno) and a small amount of white flour, cooked with vegetables (traditionally Savoy cabbage and potato), drained and layered with Bitto DOP (or Valtellina Casera DOP) and butter browned with garlic until the cheese melts through. The buckwheat gives the pasta a dark grey-brown colour and a distinctive nutty, slightly bitter flavour that standard pasta does not have. It is one of the few Italian pasta preparations where the vegetables and cheese are cooked with the pasta rather than applied as a sauce — an Alpine all-in-one preparation.
Pizzoccheri at the table is dark and fragrant — the buckwheat pasta almost grey-brown, the melted Casera white and stringy through the vegetables, the brown garlic butter golden over the top. The flavour is simultaneously nutty (buckwheat), earthy (Casera), sweet (potato and cabbage), and rich (brown butter). It is the most sustaining pasta preparation in the Alpine repertoire.
Dough: 200g buckwheat flour, 50g 00 flour, pinch of salt, enough warm water to form a firm dough. Knead 8 minutes; rest 20 minutes. Roll to 3-4mm thickness; cut into strips 5-6mm wide and 7-8cm long. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add diced potatoes (cubed 2cm) and cook 5 minutes; add shredded Savoy cabbage; cook 5 minutes; add pizzoccheri and cook 8-10 minutes. Drain all together with a slotted spoon, retaining pasta water. Layer in a warm bowl: pasta-vegetables, thin-sliced Casera DOP or Bitto, repeat. Meanwhile, brown garlic in abundant butter until golden; pour over the layered pasta. Serve immediately without mixing.
Dried pizzoccheri are available commercially from Valtellina producers and cook well — the buckwheat dries reliably. Bitto DOP (the aged mixed cow-goat Alpine cheese) has more complex flavour than Casera; both are traditional and both correct. The preparation should be assembled quickly and served immediately — it cools and stiffens rapidly.
Pasta dough too wet — buckwheat absorbs liquid differently from white flour; the dough should be firm and workable, not sticky. Under-cooking the pizzoccheri — buckwheat pasta requires longer cooking than white pasta (8-10 minutes); under-cooked pizzoccheri are gritty. Not browning the garlic butter sufficiently — the brown butter (burro nocciola) is the preparation's key flavour; pale, unbrowned butter produces an inferior result.
Oretta Zanini de Vita, Encyclopedia of Pasta; Anna Gosetti della Salda, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane