DOLCE VITALITY RECIPE: BUCKWHEAT CREPES

They come together with a team of local trekking guides, yoga teacher Jenni Warakmoski, Le Sirenuse’s experienced spa team, a personal trainer and a food coach, to push their limits while rebalancing body, mind and spirit. Healthy eating is an important part of what return participants – who are numerous this time round – have come to value as an annual reset, one that’s just as beneficial whether it’s spring or fall in their part of the world.

Every morning, Monday to Friday, is taken up by a challenging mountain hike with a near-vertical climb of at least 2,000 feet (600 metres). Breakfast thus becomes one of the most important meals of the day: it’s certainly the one many of our guests say they most look forward to. Food coach Valentina Dolci has created a breakfast menu that is designed to provide all the energy our walkers need alongside all the important proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. The trick, as always, is to match calorie input and output while maintaining gut health and avoiding common auto-immune triggers like gluten.

In this respect, buckwheat is something of a magic ingredient. Called grano saraceno or ‘Saracen grain’ in Italian, it is not a wheat but the milled seed of a flowering plant, Fagopyrum esculentum, which is related to sorrel and rhubarb. A marvelous gluten-free, healthy breakfast option, it is a good source of plant protein, antioxidants, minerals, and soluble dietary fiber. Almonds help to control blood sugar and the high insulin levels that derive from carbohydrate consumption. Unsalted almond ‘butter’ or paste contains 60 milligrams of calcium per tablespoon – 5% of your recommended daily allowance. It is also rich in magnesium, which as well as improving mood, sleep and physical strength, helps your body absorb calcium.

Feel free to replace the raspberries in the recipe with whatever vitamin-C-rich fruit is in season where you are, and to leave out the dark chocolate (not everyone is a fan) or substitue it with chopped dates.

BUCKWHEAT CREPES WITH ALMOND CREAM, CINAMMON, PEARS AND RASPBERRIES

serves two

For the crepes:

30g (1oz) buckwheat flour
30g (1oz) mixed rice, potato and corn starch

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp honey
120ml (half a cup) water

For the filling:

Almond butter made from 80g (3oz) unpeeled almonds

A whole pear, peeled and cut into small cubes
2tsp coconut oil
Cinammon to taste

For the garnish:

55g (2oz) raspberries
4 squares of 85% dark chocolate

You can take a shortcut by buying almond butter in a wholefood store, but making your own is pretty simple. First toast the unpeeled almonds for ten minutes on a tray in an oven set to 180°C (350°F). Let them cool down a little, then blitz in a sturdy food processor for at least ten minutes. You’’ll need to be patient here: at first it may seem unlikely that these dry nuts will become a paste without any added liquid, but eventually the magic will happen. Turning the blender off once or twice to let it rest and scraping the residue from the sides of the bowl back onto the blades (for safety, unplug the blender when you do this!) may help. When ready, spoon into a sealed jar. The butter should keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Now prepare the pancake (crepe) batter by mixing the buckwheat flour and starch with the water, stirring well, and leaving to rest for half an hour or so.

Peel the pear and chop into small cubes of around a centimetre (a little less than half an inch). Place 1tbs of coconut oil in a pan on a medium heat, add the pear cubes, sprinkle on cinammon to taste, cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. When they have softened, remove the lid and continue to toss in the pan on a lively heat for a couple of minutes. Leave to cool, then take half of the pear cubes and blitz then into a puree. Keep the other half aside.

Put the other tablespoonful of coconut oil into a non-stick pan and set on a lively heat, coating the pan with the oil. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the pancake batter, give it a final stir, and pour a ladelful into the hot pan. Cook until done, then turn (or toss, at your own risk!) and brown the other side. Repeat for the other crepe.

Melt the chocolate squares in a bowl in the microwave.

Now assemble the crepes. Spread a tablespoonful of almond butter onto one side of one, then repeat with the other. Add a layer of pear puree, top this with pear cubes, then fold the crepes over. Decorate by drizzling on the melted chocolate, then add the raspberries.

Dolce Vitality 2025 runs from March 16 to 22. Dates for 2026 will be announced soon.

Photos © Roberto Salomone