🧀 Valtellinese Sciatt – Original recipe with Casera cheese and buckwheat
When talking about typical Valtellina cuisine, it is impossible not to mention one of the symbolic dishes of the area: sciatt, tasty crunchy fritters made of buckwheat with a melting heart of Casera DOP cheese 🧀.
In dialect, their name means "toad," due to their irregular and plump shape, but their flavor is anything but clumsy: they are irresistible! Crunchy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, valtellinese sciatt are perfect to serve as a hot appetizer or as a main dish, on a bed of fresh chicory or other salad 🥬.
Anyone who tries them falls in love with them at the first bite 😍.
📝 Ingredients (for 4 people)
- 300 g of buckwheat flour
- 200 g of white flour 00
👉 For a gluten-free version, use only buckwheat - 300 g of Casera cheese (Latteria di Chiuro), cut into 2 cm cubes
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- Cold sparkling water or light beer 🍺 to taste.
- 1 tablespoon of grappa
- Seed oil or lard for frying
- Fresh chicory (or green salad) to serve
👨🍳 Procedure
1. Prepare the batter
In a large bowl:
- Mix with a whisk the two flours, salt, and grappa.
- Gradually pour in the sparkling water or beer until you obtain a smooth and creamy batter (not too runny).
- Cover and let it rest for 2 hours at room temperature.
2. Add the cheese
- Cut the Casera cheese into cubes of about 2 cm.
- Add it to the batter and mix well to combine.
3. Fry the sciatt
- Heat plenty of oil (or lard) in a deep pan.
- When the oil is boiling (almost smoking), take a spoonful of batter with a well-coated cheese cube and let it drop into the oil.
- Fry a few at a time to avoid sticking.
- The sciatt are ready when they float and are nicely golden and crispy.
4. Serve immediately
- Drain on paper towels.
- Serve hot, on a bed of finely chopped fresh chicory 🥬.
💡 Extra tip:
For an even more authentic touch, use valtellinese craft beer or iced sparkling water, which helps achieve a perfect and light frying.
📸 The image of the dishes is purely indicative and does not necessarily correspond exactly to the recipe.
