Casserole of Noodles and Vegetables (Lombardy)

Pasta

Ingredients

Buckwheat Flour- 6 cups

All purpose flour- 2 cups

Eggs- 4

Salt

Potatoes- 1 1/2 pounds

White cabbage- 1 1/2 pounds

Butter- 1/2 cup

Onion, finely chopped- 1 large

Sage- 1 sprig

Grated Parmesan cheese- 3/4 cup

Valtellina fat cheese, e.g. Taleggo, thinly sliced- 1/2 pounds

This casserole might at first reading appear to be stodgy. On the contrary , it is both light and moist. Failing Taleggio, which is a fat, soft cheese, use Mozzarella or even Bel Paese. Those who do not have time to make their own noodles can prepare this dish with commercially made wide ribbon noodles brokenneatly into a 2 1/2 inch strips. These should be cooked in boiling salted water until al dente before being added to the other ingredients in the casserole.

Sift the flours together into a large bowl. Add the eggs and a pinch of salt and mix well, gradually adding as much warm water as needed to make a firm, elastic dough . Knead until smooth and roll into 2 or 3 sheets, not too thin. Cut these sheets into strips 1/2 inch wide and 2 1/2 inches long to make pizzoccheri. Leave on a floured board or cloth to dry.

In the meantime, prepare the remaining ingredients. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick slices or cubes. Drop them into a large pan of boiling, salted water. Wash and shred the cabbage, add this to the pan with the potatoes, and continue cooking until the potatoes are almost soft. Add the pizzoccheri to the vegetables  and cook them until al dente- tender but still slightly resistant to bite.

Melt the butter and fry the onion and sage; then add the parmesan cheese. Stir this to a sauce and discard the sage.

Drain the pizzoccheri and vegatables and arrange them in layers in a fairly deep casserole, alternating each layer with a generous layer of sliced cheese spread with the onion and parmesan sauce. The top layer should be one of pizzoccheri and vegetables. Put the casserole into a hot oven (450F) turn off the heat and leave it for a few minutes to settle.

Serves 6.