In the Sondrio dialect, “sciatt” means toad, but, once served on the table, the term refers to the cheese buckwheat pancakes, and it is not randomly used: these delicious morsels, in fact, resemble to little toads due to the central swelling typical of their shape.
They represent a dish of the traditional rural cuisine in Valtellina, and, for this reason, there are many versions created by local habits and imagination in the kitchen. The sciatt are typically eaten with green salad, especially the “cicorino” of the local garden, cut in thin slices and dressed with vinegar. These pancakes, eaten warm, are an unforgettable delicacy, ideal as hors d’oeuvre or second course.

Ingredients

200 g buckwheat flour, 100 g white flour, water, 2 spoonfuls of grappa, 250 g Casera or Bite cheese, oil, vinegar, salt, chicory or any type of salad.

Preparation

Mix the flour, the grappa and salt in a bowl, then add water till you obtain a medium-soft dough. Dice the Casera/Bitto in pieces of 2-centimetre sides, and dip them in the batter. Let it rest for two hours.
Take one cheese cube at time with a spoon, properly covered with the dough, and drop it in the boiling-hot oil, make the sciatt turn brown and drain them. Serve them on the finely-sliced chicory/salad dressed with oil, vinegar and salt.

Time: more than two hours.

Difficulty: low.