Authentic Tuscan recipes to try at home...

Pappa al pomodoro

Pappa al pomodoro is a Tuscan recipe, typical of the region’s farming culture. In olden times housewives would make this traditional dish with leftover bread, so as to prevent it from being thrown away. It is a signature dish of Tuscany’s Cucina Povera (”poor cuisine”) - where saltless bread (salt, too, was too costly until recently!) forms the foundation of many other traditional dishes, such as panzanella and ribollita.
In the XXth century pappa al pomodoro became famous nationwide - and perhaps internationally, and in the 1960’s even inspired a song by Rita Pavone, “Viva la Pappa al Pomodoro!”

Ingredients:
1kg mature tomatoes, 400g stale bread (saltless), 100g extra virgin olive oil, 4 garlic cloves, salt and black pepper, a sprig of basil, vegetable stock, 
1 white onion, 1 stick of celery, 1 carrot

Preparation:
Wash the tomatoes and quarter them. Meanwhile, in a thick-based pan, heat up the olive oil, the garlic, the carrot, the onion and the celery. Fry it for 10/15 minutes, add the basil, then add the tomatoes, a couple of pinches of salt and some ground pepper. Cook the tomatoes for 1 hour and then pass the sauce through a food mill. Pour the sauce back in the pan, cover and let it sit for 30 minutes. Mix the sauce well and add vegetable stock or water to arrive at the desired consinstency.
Remove the crusts from the bread and cut it into cubes. Toast it in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out a little. Add the bread little by little to the tomato sauce.
The pappa should be served hot with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some freshly torn basil leaves.

Ribollita

Ingredients:
3 leeks, 5 large carrots, 10 sticks of celery, 2 garlic cloves, 5 bunches of washed and chopped kale, without the stalk (cavolo nero), 1 big spoon of tomato paste, 1.5 kg of cooked white beans (cannellini), 1.5 kg cooked and blanded white beans ( cannellini), 2 kg of Tuscan bread in cubes, salt & pepper

Preparation:
Chop the vegetables (except the kale) into big pieces, the garlic and fry them in a big sauce pan with lots of olive oil. Add the tomato paste, then add the kale and fry with the other vegetables. Cover with water, season with salt and pepper and cook for 45 minutes.
Add the beans and the mashed beans and cook for another 10 minutes. At the end, add the bread and cover with a lid, leave it to rest for 10 minutes, stir and adjust the seasoning.

Focaccia

Ingredients:
500g bread flour, 250g whole wheat flour, 18g sugar, 10g salt, plus a pinch for the top, 30g extra virgin olive oil, 400g warm water, 35g fresh yeast, fresh rosemary & thyme

Method:
Place all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, initially trying to keep the salt and the yeast separate. Mix together either by hand or with a food processor using the dough hook and knead for about 10 minutes (you should expect a very soft dough). Leave it to rise to about double its size then roll out on a well floured surface and place in an oiled tray; leave for a further half hour to double in size again. Push holes with your fingertips until they almost touch the bottom of the pan, sprinkle rock salt over the top and drizzle liberally with extra virgin olive oil. Bake in a hot oven (200°C) for about 16 mins.

Cinghiale in dolceforte.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of flour, 2.5 kg diced wild boar, 500 g fresh red onions, 2 carrots, 4 sticks of celery, 1 garlic clove, 2 heaped tablespoons of cocoa powder, 2 heaped tablespoons of tomato paste, 1l red wine, 1 orange zest, 
5 cloves of garlic, 150 ml balsamic vinegar, 3 heaped tablespoons of sugar,
salt & pepper - as optional, a handfull of raisins and pinenuts

Preparation:
Brown the meat well in a pan with olive oil, sprinkle with flour and put aside. Brown the diced vegetables and add the remaining ingredients, except the wine. Cook it for 3-4 minutes, add the stir meat, then add the wine and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cover with water and bring to the boil. Once it boils turn down the heat, let it simmer and cover with the lid.
Cook until the meat until it is tender for about 6 hours, adding water if and when necessary.

Cantucci biscuits

Ingredients:
250g flour, 250g powdered sugar, 300g whole almonds, 4 eggs, 24g powdered vanilla yeast (or 1 teaspoon of baking powder), zest of one orange and of one lemon, pinch of salt

Preparation:
Mix together the flour and the almond flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, eggs and salt in a food mixer or by hand. When the mixture is ready, add the whole almonds and incorporate with a folding action. Roll out the mixture into “sausages” on a floured surface, or squeeze them out of a heavy cloth piping bag, then bake on a greased baking tray for about 20 minutes at 180°. Remove from the oven and slice into biscuits, making sure to cut them on a slant. Return them to the oven at 100° to let them dry out and turn golden brown (40 minutes).

These cookies are traditionally served with Vin Santo.

Tagliatelle fatte a mano con ragù di cinghiale

Ingredients for the pasta:
4 eggs, 400g white plain flour “00”, semolina flour

Ingredients for the sauce:
1 large red onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, 5 garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf, 2 tbsp juniper berries, a sprig of rosemary and of sage, 1kg minced wild boar, 100g concentrated tomato paste, 500g chopped tinned Italian tomatoes, 2 glasses of red wine

To make the pasta:
Place the flour on the work surface and make a well in the centre. Break the eggs into the well, adding a good pinch of salt. Gradually incorporate the flour together with the eggs using a fork. When the flour is roughly mixed in, start to work the dough with your hands. When the mixture starts to firm up begin to knead it with the heel of your hand. The dough should be worked like this for about 5 mins, at which stage it should be wrapped in cling film and left to rest in the fridge for about 30 mins. If you are not going to use a pasta machine, you should work it by hand for a further 10/15 mins before leaving it to rest. After it is “rest”, roll the dough out to the required thickness and then sprinkle liberally with semolina and fold over a few times. Cut into large ribbons. The pasta should be cooked in boiling, salty water for about 3 mins.

To make the sauce:
Finely dice all the vegetables and the herbs (apart from the bay leaf) and cook them in abundant extra virgin olive oil, in a heavy-based saucepan until golden brown. Then add the meat and cook until brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the tomato paste and cook it out for about 5 minutes; add the red wine and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes. Add a ladle of vegetable stock and bring to a low simmer.
The sauce needs to cook for a minimum of four hours. Make sure that it retains its “sauce” consistency by occasionally adding stock.

Spaghetti alla chitarra con ragù di melanzane (vegetarian dish)

Ingredients for the pasta:
600g ‘00’ flour, 5 eggs

Ingredients for the sauce:
1 aubergine (or eggplant, depending on where you're from!), extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, salty ricotta cheese, tomato sauce (see below)

To make the pasta:
Place the flour on the work surface and make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well and gradually incorporate the flour together with the eggs, using your hands. When the mixture starts to firm up begin to knead it with the heel of your hand. The dough should be worked like this for about 5 mins, and then left to rest in the fridge for at least an hour before working further with the pasta machine (or by hand). To cut, work the dough into a long, even sheet, rolling it gradually to reach no.1 on the pasta machine. Sprinkle it liberally with semolina flour and then roll it up from both sides, cut it into tagliatelle or spaghetti using the “guitar” machine, then shake out and pile into portions.

To make the tomato sauce:
Finely chop the celery, carrots, garlic and onions and fry in extra virgin olive oil until golden. Add the basil, fry for one more minute, then add the chopped tomatoes. Salt to taste and cook for approximately 40 minutes. Pass through a vegetable mill.

To make the sauce:
Cut the aubergine into small, evenly sized cubes. heat olive oil in a pan, and gently fry the aubergine over a low heat for 10 minutes. add salt and pepper, then add the tomato sauce. cook for a few more minutes, until the aubergine is cooked through. When serving, add the salty ricotta cheese.

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

Ingredients for the pasta:
4 eggs, 400g white plain flour “00”, semolina flour

Ingredients for the sauce:
1 white onion, fresh basil leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, 12 large slices of pancetta, chopped in small pieces, 2kg of chopped fresh tomatoes, 1/2 glass of white wine

To make the pasta:
Place the flour on the work surface and make a well in the centre. Break the eggs into the well and gradually incorporate the flour together with the eggs, using your hands. When the mixture starts to firm up begin to knead it with the heel of your hand. The dough should be worked like this for about 5 mins, and then left to rest in the fridge for at least an hour before working it further with the pasta machine (or by hand).
To cut, work the dough into a long, even sheet, rolling it gradually to reach no.1 on the pasta machine. Sprinkle it liberally with semolina flour and then roll it up from both sides, cut it into spaghetti using the “guitar” machine (you can find one online - try here), then shake out and pile into portions.

To make the sauce:
Finely chop the onion and the garlic and fry them in a heavy based pan with extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes, until transparent.
Add the basil leaves and, immediately after, the chopped tomatoes; cook it for about 1 hour. Pass trhough a vegetable mill and put aside.
Dry fry the pancetta in a pan, deglaze with white wine and then add the tomatoe sauce. Cook the spaghetti for about 9 minutes then finish cooking the pasta in the sauce with fresh chopped basil and grated pecorino cheese.

Tortelli di ricotta con pesto al basilico (vegetarian dish)

Ingredients for the pasta (serves 6):
4 eggs, 400g of white flour

Ingredients for the filling:
500g ricotta cheese, 50g grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, grated nutmeg

Ingredients for the sauce:
10 bunches of basil, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 l of extra-virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 150 g of toasted pine nuts, 150 g of grated parmesan cheese

To make the pasta:
Place the flour on the work surface and make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well. Gradually incorporate the flour together with the eggs using a fork. When the flour is roughly mixed in, start to work the dough with your hands. When the mixture starts to firm up begin to knead it with the heel of your hand. The dough should be worked like this for about 5 mins if you are going to use a pasta machine, otherwise you should work it by hand for a further 10 –15 mins. Roll the dough out to the required thickness (until you can see your hand through it for ravioli) and cut it into squares about 10cm by 10cm. The ravioli are now ready to be filled.

To make the filling:
Blend the ingredients of the filling. Place it into a piping bag. Squeeze the filling into the middle of the squares of pasta and close them into triangles then fold the corners and squeeze together.

To make the sauce:
Wash the basil and strip off the leaves. Put into boiling water with the baking soda for 30 seconds. Put into cold iced water, when cold squeeze tightly to eliminate the water. Blend finely with a garlic clove and 1/2 l of olive oil, then add the pine nuts and the cheese and blend all together