Where do pizzoccheri come from? No document tells us who invented them or when. The story that can be backed up brings together buckwheat, an Asian-origin plant documented in Valtellina as far back as 1616, a name that appears in sources from the 1500s onwards, and a pasta that changes shape over the centuries. Teglio is widely recognised as their home of gastronomic tradition: it’s where the Accademia del Pizzocchero is based, founded in 2002 by Rezio Donchi.
We visited the laboratory of the Accademia del Pizzocchero in Teglio, with flour and rolling pins, where we mixed the dough while they told us the story. Here’s what we found out, the full recipe, and where to try them.
Where do pizzoccheri come from?
The symbol dish of Valtellina has one small problem: nobody knows who invented it. Not even when.
What remains is a jigsaw of a story, and we only tell the pieces that are supported by documents. There are three, and they need to be kept separate: the plant, the name, and the dish. (Just because buckwheat is there doesn’t mean the pizzoccheri already were.)
The earliest traces: 1548 and 1616
In 1548, Ortensio Lando, in a gastronomic catalogue, writes “pinzocheri”. But he does it as a joke—the text is a parody. If he were talking about our dish, we can safely ignore it. That’s why it’s a clue, not proof.
In 1616, the geographer Guler, in the Raetia, lists buckwheat among the products of Valtellina. That’s the date for the plant, which arrived from Asia. The dish is a whole other story.
So why are they called pizzoccheri?
Pounding. Pressing. According to Nocentini (Accademia della Crusca, 2025), the name comes from the Latin pinsare, meaning to pound—so it refers to the action of whoever works the pasta.
Then there are the fun theories: the “little pieces”, the idea of pizzicare (to pinch). They’re plausible suggestions, but nobody has proved them. There are also “pinzochere”, the devout laiche, but the Crusca points to a different route. And there’s the joke about “pisoccare”, meaning to doze off after eating. That one is a game. (But it works.)
How have pizzoccheri changed between the 18th and 19th centuries?
In 1750, a will appears, then an inventory, and in between a scarella: a rolling pin used to make pizzoccheri. The IGP specification documents it, citing inventories from 1750 and 1775. (We haven’t consulted the original records ourselves.)
In 1834, the doctor and botanist Giuseppe Filippo Massara writes that with buckwheat flour you make gnocchi and tagliatelle, and that both of them are called pizzoccheri. Same name, different shapes. In other words, there isn’t a neat “before and after”.
Were they a festive dish or everyday supper?
It depended on the day. In the 1800s, pizzoccheri were the dish at peasants’ invitation lunches, with plenty of butter and cheese. Bartolomeo Besta talks about this in 1883, as reflected in the studies we consulted. Everyday dinner was something else: a soup with a few vegetables.
So, “peasant” doesn’t mean “poor”.
Why is Teglio the home of pizzoccheri?
Teglio is considered the gastronomic home of pizzocchero, and sources point to it as one of its historic centres. However, there’s no single “first inventor”. The reasons are two.
First is buckwheat. Here it has been cultivated for centuries, and it’s still grown in abundance today. So the main ingredient is truly “home-grown”: the link to pizzocchero begins in the field, before it ever reaches the chopping board.
Second is the Accademia. On 2 August 2002, the Accademia del Pizzocchero was established in Teglio, founded by Rezio Donchi together with 26 other founding members. The dish was already in people’s homes. The Accademia was created to protect it and make it known.
Since 2016, the Pizzoccheri della Valtellina IGP brand (EU regulation 2016/1730) protects the pasta—fresh or dried—but not the dish once it’s already been prepared and topped.
Recipe for Pizzoccheri della Valtellina (serves 4)
This is the Accademia’s contemporary recipe, not an identical one from 1548: recipes change with the times and with each family.
Ingredients
- 400 g buckwheat flour
- 100 g plain white flour
- 200 ml water, to be measured according to the consistency of the dough
- 200 g butter
- 250 g Valtellina Casera DOP
- 150 g Parmesan, for grating
- 200 g Swiss chard leaves (verze)
- 250 g potatoes
- 1 clove of garlic
- pepper
Method
- Mix the two flours, knead with the water, and work the dough for about 5 minutes.
- Roll out the sheet with a rolling pin until it’s 2–3 mm thick.
- Cut it into wide strips 7–8 cm across, overlap them and cut lengthways to get tagliatelle about 5 mm wide.
- Cook the Swiss chard leaves and the potatoes, cut into chunks, in salted water.
- After 5 minutes, add the pizzoccheri.
- After about ten minutes, collect the pizzoccheri using a skimmer.
- In a well-heated baking dish, layer the pizzoccheri, the grated Parmesan, and the Casera cut into flakes.
- Fry the butter with the garlic until it turns properly golden, then pour it over.
- Serve straight away, without mixing, with a grinding of pepper.
Three notes
- The potatoes are always there. The Swiss chard varies by season, with stems (coste) or beans (fagiolini).
- For a version suitable for coeliacs, the Accademia suggests replacing the white flour with a gluten-free flour, or using only buckwheat flour. With gluten-free flour, the dough needs to be worked a bit more vigorously.
- This recipe is 80% buckwheat (400 g out of 500 g of flour). The specification for the IGP pasta requires at least 20%—so these are two different things.
Accademia del Pizzocchero di Teglio
They’re our partner for this episode, and they opened their laboratory to us. Founded in 2002 by Rezio Donchi, who is now Honorary President, they taught us how to knead, roll out and cut, and they gave us their recipe—the one you’ll find above.
For more than twenty years, they’ve worked to protect and promote the pizzocchero tradition, even beyond Teglio. They cooked pizzoccheri at Montecitorio (2007) and at the European Parliament (2008), and in the Vatican Gardens (2012) they organised a charity dinner, receiving the “Papa Giovanni XXIII” honorary plaque.
📍 Piazza Santa Eufemia 6, Teglio (SO)
📞 +39 349 65 20 101
✉️ accademiadelpizzocchero@gmail.com
Instagram: @accademiadelpizzocchero
Facebook: accademiadelpizzocchero
Where to eat pizzoccheri in Teglio
In Teglio there are several restaurants that are part of the Accademia. They commit to serving pizzoccheri according to the certified recipe from the Accademia, using products from Valtellina. In rotation, throughout the year each one hosts a members’ get-together evening.
To find out which they are, you can ask the Accademia directly using the contacts above.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented pizzoccheri?
Nobody knows. There’s no documented inventor and no documented birth date.
Why are they called pizzoccheri?
The most authoritative linguistic explanation links the name to Latin pinsare, meaning to pound. The others are debated theories or popular jokes.
Why is Teglio the home of pizzoccheri?
Here, buckwheat has been grown for centuries and it’s still grown today. Since 2002, Teglio has also hosted the Accademia del Pizzocchero, founded by Rezio Donchi, which protects it and tells its story.
Where do you eat pizzoccheri in Teglio?
At restaurants associated with the Accademia del Pizzocchero, which serve pizzoccheri according to the Accademia’s recipe. For the updated list, it’s best to ask the Accademia.
Which cheeses are used for pizzoccheri?
In the Accademia’s recipe: 250 g Valtellina Casera DOP and 150 g Parmesan, for grating.
What is the IGP Pizzoccheri della Valtellina?
It’s the 2016 European recognition that protects the pasta—fresh or dried—not the already prepared and topped dish.
We also tell the story in video
Pizzoccheri are the stars of the 13th episode of Tra Radici e Segreti, the video series featuring collaboration between Calendario Valtellinese and Waltella Vibes.
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