PIZZOCCHERI WITH SAGE BUTTER SAUCE

Pizzoccheri

Pasta

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups buckwheat flour

3/4 cup Antimo Caputo 00 Flour

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon warm water

2 tablespoons milk

Sea salt to taste

Sift all flour together with a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the egg, mound on the counter and make a well in the center. Add the egg, 1 tablespoon warm water, and the milk, and stir with a wooden spoon and then your fingers, adding a little more warm water if necessary to make a firm dough. Knead vigorously until dough is smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest at least 30 minutes.

Cut dough into 4 pieces. On a floured board, roll dough as thin as possible (this will be thicker than other homemade pastas) or run through a pasta machine to second to last setting. Cut into strips about 2 inches long and 3/4 of an inch wide. Continue with remaining pieces of dough. Allow the cut pasta to rest while the sauce is being made.

Sauce

Ingredients

1 stick butter (1/4 pound)

4 fresh sage leaves

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1 small head Savoy cabbage, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 cup Fontina Val d’Aosta DOP , grated

1 cup Aged Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP, grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups homemade bread crumbs.

Cook potato and cabbage in boiling water until they begin to soften, just 5 minutes or so. Add pasta to same pot and continue to cook until pasta is almost al dente. Drain.

In a large oven-proof dish, spread a layer of vegetable-pasta combination, then a layer of grated Fontina, then a layer of grated Parmesan; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue layering until all ingredients are used, ending with a layer of Parmigiano. Cover dish with bread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter and sage. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until top is golden-brown and cheese has melted. Serve hot or warm.

Wonderful on a cold day, this hearty dish is from Valtellina, high in the Italian Alps.

Pasta

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups buckwheat flour
3/4 cup Antimo Caputo 00 Flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1-2 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons milk
Sea salt to taste

Sift all flour together with a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the egg, 1 tablespoon warm water, and the milk, and stir with a wooden spoon and then your fingers, adding a little more warm water if necessary to make a firm dough. Knead vigorously until dough is smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest at least 30 minutes.

Sauce

Ingredients

8 ounces Delitia Butter of Parma [2]
4 fresh sage leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium potato, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small head Savoy cabbage, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 cup Fontina Val d’Aosta DOP , grated
1 cup Aged Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups homemade bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter with sage and garlic until butter turns nut-brown; be careful not to burn sage leaves. Set aside. Cook potato and cabbage in boiling water until they begin to soften, just 5 minutes or so. Add pasta to same pot and continue to cook until pasta is almost al dente. Drain.

Sauce adapted from Mark Bittman

Referenced Products

Aged D.O.P Parmigiano-Reggiano [3]

Antico Molino Tipo "00" Flour [4]

Delitia Butter of Parma [5]

Fontina Val d'Aosta [6]