Spring, Rain, Asparagus and Frittata

The calendar says the spring it’s here, but the weather says something different … rain and always rain !!! What a crazy  season: rain and cold in the morning, sun and warmth in the afternoon and the day after? who knows! We have to go out in the morning with jackets and sweater, and come back home in a sweat …

Are you going to come to Tuscany now? Would you like to know what kind of clothes put in your luggage? Everything! Jackets and tops,  sweater and light t-shirts, boots and flip flop, jeans and shorts … everything! You have to be ready for all kind of weather !!!  Last week in the morning, around 9am,  i was going to the lab crossing Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, i was wearing a jacket because it was raining and for me it was cold, some tourists were wearing shorts and t-shirt.  In the afternoon it was sunny and so hot that i sweated to death … it is hard to give a good advice!!!

Rain or not, it’s spring and i love this season and i love the asparagus that grow in this season. Usually in April, every sunday morning, we go around  fields looking for wild asparagus. They are fantastic and very tasty, more than the normal ones. Pasta, Risotto, soups, fried eggs, frittata  ( and more recipes) are fantastic prepared with wild asparagus. Every sunday i was ready for my “asparagus hunt” with basket and knife but, as i said, this crazy season hasn’t given me the possibility to look for them: it was raining for all April and now i cannot find them anymore. Fortunately markets are full of “traditional” asparagus.

For our co-post about spring, Marissa and i have decided to share a recipe with asparagus. She has prepared Polenta Huevos Rancheros with Asparagus (yummi !!!), i have prepared my asparagus&gorgonzola frittata:

Asparagus&Gongorzola Frittata

5 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
a small piece of butter
a big piece of gorgonzola
500gr asparagus, trimmed
olive oil
a clove of garlic
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper

   

   

In a saucepan saute the clove of garlic in extravergine olive oil, then add the asparagus. Cover and cook them untill they become tender.
In a bowl, beat eggs, add milk, salt and pepper. In a pan (not the one with asparagus!) melt the butter. Then pour the egg mixture, cover and cook over medium-low heat until eggs are nearly set, about 10 minutes. Cut thin slices of gorgonzola. When the frittata is almost ready ( still liquid on top), put the slices of cheese on the frittata. When the cheese is melted, add the asparagus. Cover and cook for 5 minutes more.

Buon Appetito !!!

Cantucci for Christmas

I think a little package of homemade biscuits, well decorated and with a fancy tag, it’s the perfect Christmas gift! If you receive it, it tells you a lot about the person who made the gift!

I adore Christmas time and the feelings it creates in me … I enjoy thinking about the right gift for everyone, the decorations and a way to keep this atmosphere alive!
In this lovely mood I can spend all my days baking tons of biscuits and preparing little packages for family and friends … it is my way to tell I care and think about them!!!!!!

This year for Christmas i’ve prepared a green and gold gift box, with a small tin of Olive oil, a jar of golden Honey, a cute bottle of Limoncello and a package of Cantucci.

Cantucci are my favorite biscuits and I love to use them as a gift. They are typical Tuscan “biscotti”, prepared with almond … usually they have to be baked crunchy because  the best way to taste these biscuits, it’s dip them in Vin Santo, a sweet, dessert wine … Delicious!!!

When Marissa proposed me to make a “biscuit post”, i could only think about Cantucci, my Christmas biscuits! Here it’s my recipe … but after Marissa’s post i have to confess i have 2 favorite Christmas Biscuits&Cookies : Cantucci and Soft Sugar Cookies!!! I adore our posts Marissa!!!!

Cantucci

50gr Butter
2 Eggs and 3 Yolks
400gr Flour
280gr Sugar
5ml Vanilla Extract
190gr Toasted Almonds (not peeled)
4gr Baking Powder
… a pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C (350F). Melt the butter. In a bowl mix  flour, salt and baking powder. In a second large bowl whisk eggs, yolks and sugar with a mixer until the dough is soft and creamy. Add the butter and whisk. Add the vanilla extract and whisk. Add the dry ingredients and whisk. Finally add the almonds and mix using a wooden spoon.

Divide the dough in 3 parts ( 2 parts if you want bigger biscuits) and, on a lightly floured surface, roll each part into a 20cm (8inch) log and about 8-10cm (3-4inch) wide.

 

Put the logs on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. When ready, remove from oven and let cool them down for 10 minutes . When they are warm, but not cold, on a cutting board, cut logs into slices 1 cm thick using a sharp knife. Place the slices again on the baking sheets and back in the oven for 15minutes at 150°C ( 300°F). The longer you bake them, more crisp and crunchy they will become … I prefer to keep them a little bit soft inside, not too crunchy, and i bake for 15 minutes (as i’ve indicated above), If you like them crunchy let them bake  10 minutes more!

Buon Appetito and Buon Natale !!!!!!!!!

Autumn in Tuscany and Castagnaccio Recipe

The Fall Season is the subject of our second “America-Italy” Post. Marissa and I both love autumn, and our idea is to describe all the feelings that this season brings to us. One of my dreams is spending an entire autumn travelling around USA, watching the nature changing colors, living all the traditions, first of all Halloween and Thanksgiving, and trying all the delicious fall recipes. One day I’ll do for sure, for now i love reading Marissa’s post and try her tasty recipe, and I enjoy the Italian autumn!

I like all the seasons but autumn has a special appeal to me! Autumn carries something new everyday: the change of the landscape colors, the sky shades, the scents of the air, with the fall season, markets show new fruits and vegetables on stall and new flowers in vases.

In Autumn there are no important holidays or celebrations in Italy. But there is something special in the Tuscan Autumn, a particular atmosphere , a “back to the country life” atmosphere . Most the activities of this season involve products of the land and what they are transformed in. All the activities offer the possibility to go back to what it’s simple and enjoy “country life”. This is the time for walking in woods looking for mushrooms or chestnuts, spending days outside picking up olives, collecting firewood in the forest and for kids running around collecting dry leaves and pinecones. In tuscany and all Italy Fall season means also hunting season, i do not like it but it’s another part of our country life. All these activities remember to us the significance of the farmland in our life, remind us that the countryside is part of us. My last consideration: the autumn remind us also how warmful and joyful is spending time together doing all these activities.

Here some autumn activities in Tuscany:
One of the most important activity in Tuscany it’s the olive picking and the production of Extravergine Olive Oil. At the end of October the picking starts. It can be done by hand or using tractors with an compressed air machine and some mechanic rakes. Everyday, at the end of the day, all the picked olives have to be taken to the olive press. The day after you’ll have your new extravergine olive oil. Some farms, like Podere Vignali, organize olive picking days open to guests…It is a nice experience to try!!!

In autumn a lot of people loves searching for mushrooms,

and chestnuts

Chestnuts are delicious, we eat them in a lot of way: roasted, dry and boiled in milk. It is possible to produce flour from chestnuts, it is used principally to prepare pasta (principally tagliatelle), cakes ( see my recipe!!!) and biscuits. We have chestnut recipes for risotto or soups. Also it’s possible to prepare chestnut jam, sweets (my favorite is Marron Glacè … see the photo above) and taste chestnut biere.
In Tuscany there are a lot of areas with woods of chestnut tree but 5 places are very famous for the quality of these fruits, where it’s possible to find the DOP and IGP chestnut and its products. These 5 places are: Garfagnana (Lucca) known for a special chestnut flour “la Farina di Neccio”, Lunigiana (Massa Carrara) for the chestnut and the chestnut flour, Mugello (Firenze), Amiata(Grosseto) and Caprese Michelangelo (Arezzo) known for their special chestnuts.

Another autumn activity is collecting and setting all the firewood, ready for the cold season. I love to lay in front of a fireplace, with friends and family, talking and drinking wine … W Autumn!!!

My favorite activity is dedicated to the autumn fruits (and most of the time prepare jams) and vegetables. In a market it’s normal to find apples, pears, kaki, grapes, escarole, cauliflowers and broccoli in autumn, but, in Tuscany, in this season there are some other particular fruits as queens, loquat, “corbezzoli”, pomegranate

and vegetables as cavolo nero, variety of cabbage and chard, perfect ingredients for delicious soups

for example Ribollita !

As i wrote above i love autumn. For me the autumn means all these activities and more. I love all the situations that fall season inspire me … like the pleasure to walk with the cool breeze on face, to admir the morning mist rise and dissapear with the sun and when it’s too cold to stay at home with family and friends … and to cook seasonal recipe for all !!!

Here a autumn tuscan recipe, Il castagnaccio , the chestnut flour cake, easy and delicious !!!

Castagnaccio

350ml water
250gr chestnut flour
100gr raisins
60gr pinenuts
60gr walnut (coarsely groud)
3 tbs of olive oil
2 pinches of salt
some rosemary needles

Pass the flour throught a sieve and put it on a bowl. Mix the water and the olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Add the water and olive oil mix to the flour slowly, while mixing. The batter has to be soft , not too liquid. Add pinenuts, walnuts and raisins and mix well. Oil a pan large enough so the castagnaccio will be 1cm thick. Pour the batter. Put the rosemary needles on the batter ( i have not done it because i do not like it !). Bake it at 200°C (400 Fahrenheit) for 40 minutes.
Buon Appetito!!!

Daniela

Last year i “digitally” met Daniela, she was interested in my recipes so she started following my blog. We wrote each other for months and finally yesterday we met “di persona“. Two weeks ago she asked me to organize for her a cooking class about Tuscan Sweets and precisaly: Brutti ma Buoni, Panforte, Schiacciata Dolce Toscana, and i was really happy to do it!!

What a beautiful day! We passed all the time baking and talking and exchange recipes. She comes from Malta and i asked her some traditional sweet recipes from her country.

I have to thank her also for her advices about how to use Facebook and Twitter. I do not use them a lot, but she make me understand how important they can be for my activity and useful for my desire to be connnected to a lot of people all over the world.

Thank you Daniela and i hope to see you soon !!!

Schiacciata Dolce Toscana

After a busy, full of family and food Easter Day, i enjoy my easter monday at home, reading a book, playing with my son, spending time cooking … and baking La Schiacciata Dolce Toscana. It is a Easter sweet bread prepared with Anice Seeds and Mint Rosolio, a sweet light liquor. My friends say the recipe cames from Pisa and Livorno areas, but it is popular in all the Tuscan Region.  Normally it’s easy to find the schiacciata in this Easter period, but i really like it so i bake it often during all the year … i love it with honey for an energetic breakfast or with a nice hot tea for a sweet aftrenoon break  !!!

Schiacciata Dolce Toscana

700gr Flour
3 Eggs, at room temperature
150gr Caster Sugar
70gr of butter, at room temperature
a glass of lukewarm milk
50gr Brewer’s Yeast
a lemon zest
2 tablespoons of anise seed
50ml of Mint Rosolio
a pinch of salt
a egg white

Dissolve the brewer’s yeast into the lukewarm milk. In a glass put the anise seeds with the mint rosolio. Mix the flour and the sugar in a bowl, add the beated eggs, milk plus yeast, lemon zest, butter, anise seed plus rosolio and the pinch of salt. Knead by hands all the ingredients and when the dought is ready, put it in a high cake pan. Leave it in a warm place for a couple of hours, until it rises. Before baking it, brush the surface with the beaten egg white. Then put in the oven 180°C for 40-45 minutes.

Buon Appetito !!!

   

 

 

MyCHRISTMAS Cantucci

My Christmas Cantucci !!!

Christmas Box for my Friends

Presents for some friends are ready: Cantucci, Brutti ma Buoni and a bottle of Extravergine olive oil … a very Tuscan Gift!!!

Two days in the kitchen and now my baking production is ready for the boxes !!!

 

Now i have to prepare the boxes …

with a nice tag to wish everybody a Happy Christmas !!!

Sweet GIFTS

It’s Christmas time and December is the the perfect month for talking about GIFTS.

While I was thinking which could be the perfect gift for friends and relatives, Gloria send me an invitation to participate to the Italy Blogging Roundtable writing a post about Gifts. I was very enthusiastic and i start thinking … and thinking thinking thinking i had my idea: a good gift is a sweet gift !!!

During this year i have collected a lot of tuscan sweet recipes, i’ve tested and baked them for my cooking classes and meanwhile i’ve learned a little bit more about Tuscany and its traditions.

This post is dedicated to my favorite tuscan cakes and biscotti !!! All these recipes are easy  ( kids can prepare  … my son tested all of them !!!) and perfect for breakfast, sweet breaks and dessert, but also they are perfect for a delicious Christmas Gift with a touch of Tuscan Tradition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here they are:

Brutti ma Buoni, biscuits prepared with egg whites, hazelnuts and sugar … Crunchy!!!

 

Torta coi Bischeri, a typical cake from Pisa and Lucca prepared with eggs, sugar, flour,butter, rice, dark chocolate, candied fruits, pine nuts and raisins … very rich !!!

   

Ricciarelli: delicious sweet from Siena made with egg whites, almond and sugar.

   

Ciambellone o Buccellato: perfect for a breakfast or a tea time. This cake is a little bit dry and hard but it’s very good dipped into tea or coffeee … i love it dipped into a glass of vin santo.

       

Rotolo o Gattò o Salame Dolce: all the tuscan kids love it filled Nutella, but it’s also delicious  filled with jam.

     

Cantucci and a glass of Vin Santo: the perfect dessert !!!!

 

BUONE DOLCISSIME FESTE a TUTTI !!!

Here the Italy Roundtable blogs: ArtTrav, At Home in Tuscany, Why Go Italy, Italofile, Brigolante

Cantucci