Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup coarse plain white breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 pound Bite cheese, cut into 24 rectangular pieces about ½ inch thick and 1¼ -x-1¾ inches
• About 1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Place flour in a shallow bowl. In a second bowl, lightly beat eggs. On a large plate, stir together breadcrumbs and sesame seeds; spread out mixture. Lightly flour cheese; dip in egg, shaking off excess egg, then firmly press into breadcrumbs to coat all sides.

Heat about 1 inch oil to 355° in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. In batches of 3 or 4, leaving enough room to flip cheese, fry cheese until golden on all sides and starting to melt, 2 minutes total (reduce heat, if necessary, to maintain temperature). Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve warm.

These gnocchi have a particular flavour, the main ingredient is the potato, of course, but the other vegetables make them taste really savoury and hard wheat flour gives them a good consistency. The fonduta is simply gorgeous, especially if you savour it when hot and use bitto cheese.

Serves 2 – 3 people

Ingredients: 350gr (1.6cup -12.8oz) potatoes* – 100gr (½cup-3.5oz) carrots* – 30gr (0.125cup – 1oz) onion – 20gr (0.1cup – 0.8oz) celery – 150gr (0.7cup – 5.6oz) hard wheat flour – 1 egg yolk.
* without the skin

For the fonduta: 70gr (0.3cup – 2.4oz) bitto cheese – ½ glass of milk – 2tbs whipped cream.

Steam potatoes with carrots, onion and celery. Smash potatoes, then crush the other vegetables and mix all together. Cool down, add egg yolk and flour little by little. Knead and eventually add some more flour, till you’ll get a smooth and non-sticky dough. Take a small quantity and, on a floured surface, form a stick thick as a finger, and cut it into pieces of 2cm (0.8inch). After that, using a fork with the prongs facing upwards, press the fork down on to one side of each gnocco (singular of gnocchi) so that it leaves a row of ridges on each one (or you can use the appropriate tool). The ridges are there to absorb the sauce effectively. Place them on a floured tray and continue till you finish all the dough.

Now prapare the fonduta. Melt in a saucepan at very low heat bitto cheese cut into pieces with milk, stirring often. When done, add cream.

To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pan of water to a simmer, then add salt and drop the gnocchi. When they will start to float to the surface they’re ready. Remove them with a draining spoon and transfer them directly into the dishes. Pour the fonduta and serve immediately.

This traditional dish of the Valtellina is one of the most popular in all mountain locations in Lombardy. In addition, when served warm and stringy, it is ideal with sausages, cote chino (Italian pork sausage), mixed mushrooms and onions, depending on the recipes.
The peculiarity of the polenta Taranga, which makes it different from the other types of polenta, resides in the buckwheat: the traditional yellow flour is mixed to the brown buckwheat flour, creating a unique flavour. The polenta Taragna of the Valtellina, distinguishes itself for the cheese used: the Bitto and Casera.

Ingredients

250 g di butter, 100g di yellow flour, 500 g buckwheat flour, 250 g Bitto cheese, salt, water.

Preparation

Pour about 2 litres of water into a pot and make it boil. Sprinkle the two types of flour, mixed beforehand, and cook, stirring for about an hour. Add crumbled butter and cook for 10 more minutes. Add the finely-sliced cheese and stir well for a couple of minutes, till the cheese melts. Then pour the polenta on the wooden chopping board and serve.

Time

an hour and a half.

Difficulty:   medium

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.