I’ve really wanted to recreate this dish since we went on holiday to the Italian Alps a few years ago. We found a hidden away restaurant in a little town I can’t even remember the name of, but what I do remember is this dish.  When I got home and looked up the recipe, and found out that buckwheat isn’t a grain at all, it’s a seed, I thought it would be perfect to use in one of my gluten-free budget recipe weeks.

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Pizzoccheri with cabbage & potato Pasta dish

Serves 2 with a bit of leftover pasta

Ingredients for the pizzoccheri pasta:
140g buckwheat flour, plus extra for dusting
¹/₂ teaspoon xanthan gum
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Warm water
Salt

Ingredients for the pasta sauce:
350g savoy cabbage, shredded
250g potatoes, chopped into chunks
70g butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 sage leaves, shredded
100g cheese, thinly sliced
Generous grinding of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Method

To make the gluten-free buckwheat pasta, Mix together the flour, xanthan gum and a pinch of salt into a mound in a bowl, or on your countertop if you’re feeling Italian, and make a well in the centre.

Add the egg, 1 tablespoon of water, and the milk and gradually incorporate the flour with your fingers, adding more warm water if you need to. Knead until smooth.

Wrap in cling film and let rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

To make the pasta sauce, put the cabbage and potato with a pinch of salt into a pan with water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes until the cabbage is tender and the potato is soft.

Cook the onion, garlic, and sage in the olive oil in a large saucepan, until soft and golden brown.

Now roll out the pasta dough on a lightly floured counter and cut into 2cm wide ribbons, about 12cm long.  You won’t need a machine for this one as it’s supposed to  be fairly thick pasta.

Add the pizzoccheri to the pan of cabbage and potato, and cook for about 5 minutes, then drain, and transfer  the mixture to the larger onion pan and toss together.

Place a layer of pizzoccheri-vegetable mixture on the base of a serving dish, then a layer of broken cheese slices on top. Then continue with another layer of pasta and vegetables before finishing off with some broken cheese, a scatter of chopped sage and a grinding of black pepper. Serve hot.