Pizzoccheri

Alessandro Negrini’s selected pizzoccheri follows a Valtellina preparation of short buckwheat pasta with potatoes, savoy cabbage, cheese and butter. The chef makes the noodles from two flours and water before cooking them with the vegetables.

Stone-ground buckwheat flour and type-0 flour combine with warm water into a firm, elastic dough. More buckwheat flour dusts the working surface as the dough is rolled thin and cut into short ribbons.

Potatoes begin in a large pot of salted water, followed by cabbage and then the fresh pizzoccheri. The pasta and vegetables drain well before they form layers with sliced Latteria cheese in a warmed dish.

Grated Grana Padano tops the layers while gentle retained heat helps the Latteria melt. Separately, butter cooks with halved garlic cloves until it develops a hazelnut colour.

The browned butter is poured over the pasta, the garlic is removed and the layers are mixed gently. The complete pizzoccheri are served hot, with melted cheese connecting the short noodles, potatoes and cabbage.