4 servings

*Note: Valtellina Casera cheese can be found at local gourmet shops.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
• 1⅓ cups rice
• ⅓ cup dry white wine
• 5 cups homemade or lower sodium chicken broth, heated to a simmer
• 7 ounces Valtellina Casera, cut into small pieces*
• 3½ ounces thinly sliced bresaola, cut into thin strips
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram

Instructions

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring constantly, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is translucent, about 5minutes.

Add wine and cook, stirring, until mostly absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 cup broth and cook, stirring constantly, until mostly absorbed, 5 to 7 minutes. Add ½ cup broth and cook, stirring, until mostly absorbed. Continue adding broth by ½ cupfuls, stirring constantly, until risotto is tender yet still slightly firm to the bite.

Remove risotto from heat, add ¼ cup broth (you may have broth left over) and Casera cheese; stir to combine. Season risotto to taste with salt if needed. Serve immediately, sprinkled with bresaola, parsley and marjoram.

The buckwheat fettuccine (ribbons of pasta), processed and mix with durum wheat, are probably the most popular delicacy in Valtellina. They are boiled with many different types of vegetables and then heated in a baking-pan with the vegetables, butter and cheese, better if the native one, Bite and Casera .
The Valtellina pizzoccheri, owe much of their peculiarity to the buckwheat, which gives them that unique taste many connoisseurs feast with.
Their value does not only reside in the pleasure they give to our taste: the buckwheat is a healthy food, rich in vitamin B, E and magnesium.

Ingredients

200gr buckwheat flour, 100gr white flour, water and salt, 300gr ribs or Savoy cabbages, 150 gr potatoes, 250 gr Bite and Casera cheese, 200 gr butter, 3 garlic cloves, a few leaves of sage.

Preparation

Knead the two kinds of flour with salt and water, until the dough becomes smooth and feels soft. Roll out the pastry, making it not so thin, and make some “listarelle” or ribbons.
Cut the vegetables into pieces (ribs in the summer, Savoy cabbages in the winter) and cook them in a lot of salty water for about ten minutes. Then, add the ribbons of pasta and let them cook for about 10 minutes. After that,   take out of the pot the pizzoccheri with a ladle, little by little, lay them on a pyrex saucepan and sprinkle the cubes of Casera and Bite over them. Repeat the procedure making three or four layers.
Finally, season with butter, slightly cooked with slices of garlic and a few leaves of sage.

Time: an hour.

Difficulty: medium.