Buckwheat spaghetti with Fontina Cheese and Cabbage

I took the idea for the preparation of this Italian first course from the preparation of Pizzoccheri, an Italian traditional recipe from Valtellina. What you need to prepare this delicious first course is buckwheat spaghetti, Fontina cheese and savoy cabbage. The preparation is very easy because cabbage and spaghetti cook together. Then when they are cooked you have only to drain them and add the Fontina cheese that will give them an extraordinary taste. If you want a preparation more similar to that of Pizzoccheri you can also add the potatoes in small pieces and cooked them together with the cabbage. This recipe is also very light, indeed I didn’t use any extra virgin olive oil but all the taste is given by the delicious Fontina Cheese.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

320g of Buckwheat spaghetti

400g of Savoy Cabbage

150 g of Fontina Cheese

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: OltrePò Pavese Barbera Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION

Wash and cut the leaves of cabbage. Place them in a large pot with the salted water where you will cook also spaghetti. 

Let the water boils and cook the cabbage for 10-15 minutes. When the cabbage is cooked, add to it spaghetti and let them cook for about 8-10 minutes. 

In the meantime prepare the fontina cheese in small cubes. When spaghetti are cooked drain them, place them again in the same pot and add the Fontina cheese. 

Mix all together and let the cheese melt. Serve hot.

BUON APPETITO!

Roulades of Loin with Speck and Fontina

This is a typical Italian way to cook the pork loin in order to create an excellent second course. This recipe is made of pork loin prepared with speck and fontina, that are two typical Italian ingredients of the northern part of Italy. In particular speck is a smoked ham typical of Tyrol and fontina is an Italian cheese typical of Valle d’Aosta.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

8-9 Minute steaks of pork loin

8-9 Slices of speck

100 g of Fontina (Italian cheese)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 / 2 Glass of Extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan

Breadcrumb

Salt

Pepper

Parsley

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION

In a dish mix the lemon juice and the extra virgin olive oil and place in it the minute steaks of loin in order to marinade them for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the slices of speck and cut into thin slices the Fontina.

Combine in a bowl the breadcrumb, the parmesan, some salt, pepper and parsley and use this mixture to cover the both side of the minute steaks of loin.

Then on the side of loin make a layer with 1 slices of speck and another with 4-5 slices of fontina.

Roll up and close with a stuzzicadente as a roulade. Place a drizzle of oil and the roulades in a pan and let them brown on low fire.

Preheat the oven to 200 C° and when the roulades are browned add ½ cup water and bake them. Cook for almost 20 minutes. Place 2 roulades onto a platter,with some cornetti e 3 sweet cherry tomatoes. This is th result:

BUON APPETITO!