Okay, rolling out pasta dough is far from easy unless you use a special pasta rolling machine. While these gadgets are not very hard to find or expensive, most people don’t plan to make pasta from scratch often enough to warrant getting one. So how else can you approach making pasta from scratch while not purchasing the rolling machine?
Pizzoccheri – this is the answer! Made with a combination of buckwheat flour and durum wheat flour, this Northern Italian pasta is really easy to roll out using a wood rolling pin. The softness of the buckwheat dough means there’s really no need for a pasta rolling machine or other fancy gadgets. Simply flour your countertop and roll out the dough, and you’re halfway towards a superbly gourmet homemade dinner.
What’s more, buckwheat is almost always organic, even when it’s not written on the pack. This is because buckwheat bizarrely grows better WITHOUT chemical fertilizers. A rare crop. Buckwheat prefers the harshest growing environments and poorest soils, and simply doesn’t grow very well if you treat it to fertilizers. So you can feel confident your pizzoccheri are full of natural goodness, with minimal chemical inputs.
Here’s how you do it… Take 1 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour, and 1 cup of durum wheat flour. In a bowl, add 1 cup of water, little by little, squelching and kneading as you go. Keep kneading in the bowl for at least ten minutes, then leave the dough to rest, covered in a recycled plastic bag. Then, flour the counter and rolling pin, and roll to about 3mm thick. Cut into 1/2 inch tagliatele-style strips, then chop down into shorter strip. Boil and serve with a sauce of your choice, or the traditional way… boiled with potatoes, and cabbage, then doused in melted butter, fried garlic, porcini, fresh sage, and creamy semi-melted fontina cheese.
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This was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 3:47 pm by Ysanne Spevack. To link here, use the permalink. You can follow any responses to this post through the 
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Hi, Ysanne. This sounds delicious. I especially liked the idea of mixing with potatoes … I’d not ever thought of that.
My sad truth is that I’m incredibly fond of the little mushrooms available in local supermarkets in the U.S. Sauteed in butter, they’re just delicious. But not organic, so I’ve had to give them up. Here’s a picture of them at istockphoto.com. Would you know of any substitutes?
It’s a shame that other plants don’t grow better without pesticides; that might put an end to the current way of doing things for some people.
Posted by Diane Vigil on 3rd April 2008 at 11:25 pm | Permalink
Wow! this is amazing and funny!
I’m away (far away) from my mom and too far away also from my valley of origin, Val Poschiavo, a pizzoccheri home, and probably too young to remember how to make them from scratch. So I thought let me google how to make these pizzoccheri and here I find this website, (instead of a local or italian website) ! I am really surprised! Very accurated! thank you very mcuh!!!
Nadia
Posted by Nadia on 8th April 2008 at 3:58 am | Permalink
Hello Diane,
Thanks for your point about dried mushrooms. You know, it’s easy to find high quality wild mushrooms. While not able to be classified as organic, wild mushrooms when picked responsibly are grown without pesticides, just as nature intended. I think they’re totally acceptable, just as long as the company you buy them from are able to say how they were colleected from the wild.
Hope this helps, and enjoy the recipe!
Ysanne
Posted by Ysanne on 8th April 2008 at 4:16 pm | Permalink
Hello Nadia,
So glad you found this reccipe! Please drop us a line once you’ve prepared it, and let me know if it’s the same as your mother’s.
Best wishes,
Ysanne
Posted by Ysanne on 8th April 2008 at 4:21 pm | Permalink
Hi Diane,
There’s a wonderful family-run company based in the Bay Area who offer organically-grown fresh mushrooms and sustainably-picked wild mushrooms. It’s not about the safety of the mushrooms, but about whether they are harvested responsibly in terms of sustaining the mycelium. The man who picks Far West Fungi’s dried mushrooms, Eric, is an experienced mushroom picker who knows how to do it right. You can buy them online at: http://store.farwestfungi.com
Best,
Ysanne
Posted by Ysanne on 16th April 2008 at 10:30 am | Permalink
I came accross your website and realized that you had the same first name as me. It is an unusual name. I also am from England originally – born there in 1952. My mother went to school with ysanne Churchman and named me after her. I am interested in knowing how you came about being named Ysanne. By the way, you sign your name in a similar way that I do – funny eh!
Best Wishes
Ysanne
Posted by Ysanne Harvey on 24th April 2008 at 2:27 pm | Permalink
Thanks for the info….I am trying to put together a list of what celebs are doing to help the environment. Ed Begley Jr. is having a sweepstakes where he flys you to Hollywood and gives you tips on how to go green ( http://www.earthlab.com/life/livingwithed/ ) Pretty crazy stuff. Obviously there are many others. Drop me a link if you have any on the top of your head. Thanks again for the info!
Posted by Adrian on 2nd May 2008 at 1:58 pm | Permalink
Great recipe. I love that this blog is dedicated to organic foods. I’m definitely moving that way in my own kitchen, and appreciate the inspiration.
Posted by Renaedujour on 20th May 2008 at 12:27 pm | Permalink
Ysanne
I love pasta. Although I have attempted to make my own homemade pasta with a machine before I always need to rely on others to get it right.
I’m going to give this recipe a try.
Ciao, Tony
Posted by Tony Meleca on 9th September 2008 at 3:53 pm | Permalink