Wait, I thought you said b/f that you don’t cook much? 
If those are before and after, would you please, PLEASE talk about it. It looks fantastic, robert.
One of my all-time favorites. A true classic done right. Beautiful!
Pizzoccheri are a specialty of the Valtellina region, which borders Switzerland. It’s a close relative of the Swiss dish Älplermagronen except with noodles that are part buckwheat and some Savoy cabbage, chard stalks, or spinach. This was 500 g of pasta, around 10 oz. each potatoes, Fontina Valdostana, and Savoy cabbage, and a stick of butter that had simmered with some garlic. If I had it to do over I’d have used twice as much cabbage. Most recipes call for adding some Reggiano but that seemed like overkill.
I was not crazy about this Tudori brand, I’m pretty sure the brand I used to buy in Italy was 80% buckwheat and this was only 20%.
Marcella Hazan’s More Classic Italian Cooking has a lighter recipe that uses fresh noodles. Note that the asshole editors of the one-volume “Essentials” compilation arbitrarily cut the amount of butter in half.
The important missing in comparison to Aelplermagronen is the apple sauce.
The cabbage or chard have a similar function and don’t clash with dry red wine.
I see in “Essentials” that she preferred chard stalks but I think the cabbage sounds better. Thanks so much for telling us about this. Having been in Seattle for a week in the snow and now Reno with rain and snow arriving, this sounds great. Do you see any reason to make the pasta, assuming (and that’s a big assume) that I can get the pasta here?
With fresh pizzoccheri you can cook the potatoes and cabbage / chard stalks until done, then throw in the pasta for the minute it takes to cook.
With dried, you need to guess how long to cook them before you add the pasta, which takes ten minutes. A lot of recipes say to cook the potatoes and cabbage for the same amount of time, but depending on what variety of potatoes and cabbage and how small you dice the potatoes, you might end up with one or both under- or overcooked. Last night I cooked the potatoes for five minutes, then added the Savoy cabbage, then when it was boiling again added the pasta. That was too long for the cabbage, it practically dissolved. I think I could have added it five minutes through the pasta cooking.
Chard stalks I’d blanch for sure.
Kind of a tricky recipe for something so simple, but it’s still good so long as the potatoes aren’t underdone.
I know this is “wrong,” but I just cook each item separately, but in the same pot.
Potatoes, then cabbage, then pasta, then the vegetables go back in for 10-25 seconds to warm again.
But I’ve only made it a handful of times. It’s not something I’ve mastered.
Next time you are in LA and are able to get to the SM farmer’s market, check out Roan Mills. They make bread, sell flour, and also make a very rustic Pizzoccheri pasta that you might enjoy. They also grow espellete domestically and sell whole, dried peppers.
I was thinking the same .Smart.
No photos (there was no time!) but hearing that a dear neighbor had an injury, I met with her, offered her food options - and she wanted soup. My chicken soup. Which takes two days to make and I had none in the freezer (I usually do.)
It was clear, sooner would be better, so I ran out, got a whole chicken and then, after reading and strategizing (and hoping!) threw the six pound chicken in my instant pot with peppercorns, a bay leaf, a chopped onion and two cups of water - and cooked it for an hour (not including the time it took to get to pressure.) Then dumped everything into a big stock pot with a pound of peeled, chopped carrots, 6 cups of water to dilute the concentrated stock, kosher salt, and let it cook away. An hour later I strained it all through a dishcloth (to catch the fat I’d normally nab by chilling overnight), pulled the carrots out to put back in the soup, shredded chunks of breast meat back into the soup as well and? Done.
Not perfect but in three hours in one day, I got the results of basically 6 - 8 hours of cooking, over two days.
And then another dear friend and her husband got sick, so I gave them the other half of the batch. I ate the last half cup left after packing it all up and dropping it off and whew! It was nice.
Now, I am making a full batch of soup, old school style on the stove, and will be sure to have plenty in the freezer for the future
I evolved. 
@Happybaker, why not do step 2 also in the instant pot? Does cooking on the stovetop impart deeper flavor?
My instant pot is only 6 quarts. Put in a 6 pound chicken and you can only add a few cups of water safely. So, to get the right proportions, the stockpot step with more water and the carrots.
(FYI, my stovetop norm is, to start, 1 quart of water per pound of chicken. You lose some due to evaporation but you get the picture!)
@Happybaker, got it! Think I have the 8 qt instant pot and have been pleasantly surprised by how tasty soups have turned out. Anyway, chicken soup sounds delicious in our cold wet weather.
Mozzarella, mushrooms, red bell peppers, and prunes?
I’d guess kalimata or oil-cured olives + difficult lighting.