Tuscany….land of awesome!
Episode 7: I took notes so you didn’t have to….We talked about the following in this episode….Tuscany!
Maybe I watched “Under the Tuscan Sun” too many times or am a romantic at heart but I love Tuscany. There is something purely magical about the region, country side and the people who are lucky enough to call it home.
Pane Tuscano, so easy and so delicious! It’s the perfect vehicle for the big bold flavors of Tuscany cuisine. I think King Arthur Flour does a great job explaining this recipe here. The key is planning ahead a day or so before you need it and knead the heck out of it. Make sure you are eating this bread with dishes with big bold or spicy flavors since it doesn’t have any salt in it.
Balsamico!
The “real” stuff is only made, to this day in Reggio Emilia and Modena in Italy. Look for the DOP label, “Denominazione di Origine Protetta”, which means Protected Designation of Origin. This is for Italy only, France has the AOC label. But when you see this it’s ensuring that the product you are buying is made in a specific region in Italy with traditional methods to create the product. This is important as it really marks the high standards and optimal quality you are looking for.
Serious Eats does a great job of explaining the range of balsamico, “Because of the multi-barrel process, it takes complex math to gauge the average age of the bottled product, so instead a tasting commission of five expert judges convenes to taste the vinegars and determine an appropriate grade, and no age is printed on the label. In Reggio Emilia, traditional balsamics are graded affinato (fine), with a red cap, which roughly corresponds to a 12-year vintage; vecchio (old), with a silver cap, which roughly corresponds to a 15-20 year vintage; or extra vecchio (extra old), with a gold cap, which roughly corresponds to a 20-25 year vintage. In Modena there's just affinato, with a white cap, or extra vecchio, with a gold cap.”
I love using balsamico to finish dishes. From savory to sweet and everything in between. Once and awhile I will sneak a touch into a marinade to “round out the flavor” but honestly you don’t want to heat this up in any way as the flavors will breakdown and you loose the beautiful quality of the vinegar. This vinegar goes so beautifully with so many dishes that don’t involve salad. Drizzle it on anything below!
Strawberries and Goat Cheese
Strawberries and Vanilla Bean Mascarpone or Sweet Whipped Cream
Grilled Peaches and Vanilla Bean Gelato
Figs and Proscuitto
Finished Caramelized Onions with a Touch
Balsamic roasted cherries
I think this mocktail, which could be easily turned into a cocktail with your favorite Gin or Vodka is a great place to start for a balsamic shrub!
Eating in Tuscany:
Here’s the sandwich shop in Florence….yes it’s really worth the wait! And get three sandwiches!
Panzanella Salad
The love and lemons panzanella salad is one of my favorites! It’s not super traditional but man oh man is it good! Make this in the summer when everything is in season near you for the best flavor! I could eat it every single night when tomatoes and peaches are in season!
Bistecca alla Fiorentina
The key to this steak is the cut, the simplicity and really using the BEST quality beef you can find. Traditionally this only comes from a certain breed of Tuscan cow called Chianina. The cut is basically a porter house style steak. In Italy they are measuring this steak in “fingers” not inches but because I am sitting in the Boston area in the US as I type this, let’s use inches…. so you are going about 3 inches or so. You are going to cook this on extremely high heat. So season the steak generously with salt, pepper and a tiny bit of olive oil. Put it on a screaming hot grill for about 5 minutes and then flip it. Leave it for maybe another five minutes and that’s it! You are looking for an internal temperature of about 120F. When you get this in a restaurant it’s sliced and served and then placed back around the bone. The bone is basically the garnish to the dish. An easy roasted potatoes dish goes great with this or a simple dish of cannellini beans. The steak is the star here and serving it rare is the best way to go when using an amazing cut!
The lampredotto sandwich, which I know you all want to run out in get is not as scary as it sounds!! I really recommend trying at least a bite!!
KM Zero Tours!!! Find them here and here on instagram. We LOVE them and I know you will too. If you are going to Tuscany please drop them a line and book a tour with them. Let them show you the beauty of the area they are so lucky to call home. Even if you can’t get to Tuscany I implore you to try traveling where you go in a “slow” style. Arianna talks about what slow travel means to them and it’s really about learning from each other. The memories you create stay with you because they are connected to these special experiences. Take your time, slow down and really enjoy the moment, the people, the food, the exchange and I don’t think you’ll have to stop and take as many pictures with your phone as you think because the memories you just created will last you a life time.
Arianna was kind enough to type up a few recipes for us and I plan on making all of them this week!
Polenta Recipe Abruzzo Style:
Polenta is a hearty, classic Northern Italian style dish. This is Alessio's mamma version, made using cornmeal only and topped with a hearty sausage ragu. It is bold and rich in flavour and was traditionally served spread onto the middle of the table so everyone could dig in and get their portion.
INGREDIENTS:
500ml/2cups Tomato Sauce (Passata)
Extra virgin olive oil
½ onion (diced into small pieces)
½ carrot (diced into small pieces)
4 x pork and fennel sausages (remove skin from 2 of them)
2 x pork ribs
500g/16oz pork mince (ground)
250g/1.47cups cornmeal (or one packet of ready-made polenta mix)
1L water
Parmesan
Rock salt
Fine salt
UTENSILS:
Small pot
Medium size fry pan
Large pot
METHOD:
1. For this Italian polenta recipe, add a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil to a small pot, then add carrot and put it on the stove at a low-medium heat.
2. Leave it to fry for a minute or so before you add a whole pork sausage and two pork ribs to the pot, along with 500g of pork mince.
3. Mix the mince through so that it starts to brown and add some more EVOO to help it cook. Stir everything through to make sure it is cooked and ready to be added to the cornmeal polenta.
4. Then, add a pinch of salt, stir through and add 500ml of fresh tomato sauce.
5. To sweeten the taste of the sauce, add a touch of rock salt, and leave to simmer and cook through for at least an hour.
6. Now, it’s time to prepare the sausage you will add to the Italian cornmeal polenta (and it will also be used on top). Getting your medium size frypan, add some EVOO and place 3 more Italian sausages inside, breaking them up using a fork, by squashing and pressing them forward. They are to be enjoyed in pieces, not whole.
7. Cook this on a low-medium heat until well browned, adding 100g of veal mince and a pinch of salt. Mix this through and ensure it is well browned by moving the meat around with a wooden spoon.
8. Put a large pot on the stove, filling it with 1L of water. Leave it to heat up – but don’t boil it!
9. Add a pinch of rock salt to the water once it starts to heat and with the wooden spoon in one hand, get cornmeal in the other and slowly drop it into the water, while mixing it through with the spoon.
10. Don’t put all of the cornmeal in the polenta at once! You will see it start to grow in the water and eventually thicken, but the key is mix, mix mix!
11. Using a ladle, pour a portion of the sauce you prepared earlier, into the cornmeal polenta, and mix it through. At the same time add half of the sausage mince you also prepared and stir it in.
12. Keep stirring the polenta until it is a thick consistency and it should start to bubble.
13. Be careful not to undercook your polenta or it will be runny and not set!
Get a small amount of sugo, and put it onto a flat plate, then add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. Next, pour the polenta on top of the sugo, spreading it out and adding more delicious sugo on top with a light sprinkle of sausage mince left from earlier! Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on top, and add the sausage mince on top that was prepared earlier.
Ribollita - Tuscan Peasant Soup
INGREDIENTS:
300g dried cannellini beans
Extra virgin olive oil
2 red onions, finely chopped
3 carrots peeled
1 small potato, peeled
500g cavolo nero cabbage or tuscan kale
200g swiss chard
150g stale tuscan bread, cut into cubes
1 fresh bay leaf
salt and pepper
Preparation: 2 hours
Start the day before by soaking the beans in the water overnight for at least 8 hours. The next day, start by cooking the beans. Discard the soaking liquid and boil the cannellini beans in a large pot filled with water, together with the bay leaf, until they are tender about 40 mins. Depending on how old your dried beans are, the cooking time could be 10 - 20 minutes shorter or longer.
In the meantime, chop your vegetables into 2” cubes and stripes
Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft about 3 mins. Add the cabbage and continue to cook until softened, about 8 mins, stirring often. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook over medium heat for another 10 minutes.
Add 1 liter of water to the vegetables and bring to a simmer. Let this cook for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Add the cooked cannellini beans (without their cooking liquid) and cook for another 20 minutes. Ass some water during the cooking time to keep the soup thick but watery enough to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper
Let soup rest overnight as it is best the following day. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Reheat the soup on the stove top and stir in about a 1/3 of the cubed bread and warm through, about 5 minutes. Put the rest of the bread on top and don’t mix in. Drizzle olive oil all over the top of the bread and bake in the oven until brown and crispy on top. About 15 mins.
For a zuppa di fungi recipe there is this one or this one but again remember use what’s in season for the best flavor!
Olive oil is one of the most important ingredients to Tuscan cuisine. Make sure you are getting a good quality and look for it to be extra virgin, cold pressed and the first press. Get two kinds, one a little more high quality than the other. The nicer one use for finishing and realize that it varies from region to region in Italy, Greece, Spain, Sicily. So the olive oil from Tuscany is going to be bolder in flavor to compliment the dishes served in that area. The olive oil in Puglia is going to be lighter because the dishes down there are lighter. So think about what you are cooking and use an oil that really compliments and elevates the dish.
For wine, when buying Italian wine look for the “DOCG” label which I think thekitchn does a great job of explains what this means, “Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG): Seeing this on the label of your wine bottle means that the wine producers followed the strictest regulations possible to make that wine. The wine was tested a committee that then guarantees the geographic authenticity of the wine and its quality” and if you are buying a true Chianti…look for the roaster on the label, most likely on the back of the wine bottle. This means it was made in Chianti.
If you want to try and not stand out in Italy as a tourist I would not order a cappuccino after 11am, don’t put cheese on everything and try not to dress “too summery” unless it really is more comfortable for you.
KM Zero Tours have put together these incredible gift boxes with products from producers in Tuscany. It’s a way to “travel” without leaving. Bring some of Tuscany to your world and support these local artisans!
Beth Fuller is a Boston based Food, Product and Lifestyle Photographer. One of the best ways to support the podcast and Beth is to write a review wherever you listen, like the podcast on your favorite platform and please keep Beth in mind for any photography projects as a gal has got to pay her bills!
If you have a question and want it to be featured on the podcast please email either the question or a voice memo to letsgoonafoodadventure@gmail.com. Are you on instagram? Tag me in your food adventures, @letsgoonafoodadventure. Do you want to work together with food and product photography, drop me a line here!
xoxo
Beth
