Recipes

A note on measurements: I use metric weight rather than volume in my recipes as I find it more accurate and more convenient. If you rely on cups, please note that Australian, British and US cups and tablespoons all have slightly different measurements – how confusing! Where there are cup measurements, I use a 250ml cup measurement a 20ml tablespoon (so, for example, if you’re using US tablespoons which are 15ml, be generous). If you need to convert these measurements, this is pretty handy information to know, but you can also find conversion tools like this one that do all the maths for you. If in doubt, weight is always accurate!

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Vegetarian
Pasta
Baking
Tuscany
Pizza
Kids in the kitchen

Antipasti e Merende ~ Starters and snacks

• Artichoke tart
• Bruschetta
• Cherry Tomato Schiacciata
• Cinnamon fritters with stale bread
• Crostini di Fegatini (Tuscan chicken liver pate crostini)
• Crostini con Baccelli (fava bean crostini)
• Crostini with cannellini beans and marinated white anchovies
• Crostone di Salsiccia e Stracchino (sausage and soft cheese crostone)
• Eggs and anchovies (uova strapazzate con acciughe)
• Fiori di acacia fritti (fried robinia flowers)
• Focaccia Pugliese
• Fried eggs with spring truffles
• Frittata di spaghetti
• Frittelle di sammole (wild garlic fritters)
• Melanzane sott’olio (Eggplant preserved in olive oil)
• Ostriche Tarantine in Tiella (Taranto style oysters)
• Oysters wrapped in lemon leaves
• Pane con pomodoro (bread with tomatoes)
• Panini di lampredotto (Florentine tripe sandwiches with salsa verde)
• Pizza with homemade mascarpone and speck
• Pizza dough, Roman style
• Pizza (ancient grain, sourdough) with truffle, artichoke and anchovies
• Polenta crostini with mushrooms
• Polpette di tonno (deep fried tuna croquettes)
• Polpette di trippa (deep fried tripe balls)
• Sarde in Saor (sweet and sour fried sardines)
• Smoked tuna and artichoke panini
• Torta di ceci (chickpea flatbread)
• Torta di pane, prugne, zucca e caprino (bread pudding with pumpkin, prunes and goat cheese)
• Tortine di mozzarella (stale bread and mozzarella cakes)

Primi ~ First Courses ~ Soup, pasta and rice

• Agnolotti filled with pork and cabbage
• Acquacotta Viterbese (wild greens and bread soup with poached eggs)
• Biancomangiare (Renaissance chicken and almond milk soup)
• Borage and ricotta crepes
• Broad bean pesto
• Brodetto di Pesce (Tuscan fish soup)
• Bucatini alla Reggina (Calabrian style bucatini with tomato, breadcrumbs and chilli)
• Carrot and ricotta gnudi
• Casunziei (beet ravioli with poppyseed sauce)
• Chestnut gnocchi with walnut sauce
• Chicken gnocchi
• Crespelle verdi di pesce (spinach crepes with fish ragu)
• Egg yolk ravioli
• Farfalle con Pistacchi e Pancetta (fresh bowtie pasta with pistachio and pancetta)
• Farro salad
• Frittatine Trippate (frittata strips in tomato sauce)
• Gluten free gnocchetti
• Gnocchi alla Romana (Roman style baked semolina gnocchi)
• Gnocchi di zucca e castagne (pumpkin and chestnut gnocchi)
• Minestrone
• “Olive leaf” pasta with tomato and mozzarella
• Orecchiette con broccoli
• Paglia e fieno alla fiesolana (handmade green and gold pasta with peas and prosciutto)
• Pappa al Pomodoro (Tuscan bread and tomato soup)
• Pappardelle all’aretina (Arezzo style duck pappardelle)
• Pappardelle con ovoli e nepitella (pappardelle with Caesar mushrooms and calamint)
• Passata di zucchine e i fiori (zucchini and zucchini flower soup)
• Pasta con le sarde
• Pasta e ceci (pasta with chickpeas)
• Pasta verde all’ortica (Fresh nettle pasta)
• Pici all’aglione (pici with classic tomato and garlic sauce)
• Pici al sugo finto (handmade pici pasta with “fake sauce”, a vegetable sugo)
• Pici con le briciole (pici pasta with breadcrumbs)
• Ragu Bolognese di Zia Nerina (Aunt Nerina’s bolognese ragu)
• Ragu di coniglio (rabbit ragu for pasta)
• Ravioloni with braised pork cheek
• Raw tomato sauce for hot summer days
• Ribollita (Tuscan kale soup)
• Ricotta, feta, mint ravioli
• Ricotta gnocchi
• Ricotta tortelli
• Risotto con zucca gialla e zafferano (Pumpkin and saffron risotto)
• Risotto in Cantina (risotto with white wine)
• Risotto with pan-roasted quails
• Spaghetti con agretti (spaghetti with monk’s beard)
• Spaghetti con le vongole, a guide
• Spiced walnut linguine
• Squid ink pasta
• Sugo Burgiardo (sausage ragu)
• Tagliolini al Limone (tagliolini pasta with lemon sauce)
• Tortellini all’ortica (nettle tortellini)
• Zuppa Corsa from Garibaldi Innamorato (Corsican fish soup with crostini)
• Zuppa di zucchine e i fiori (zucchini and zucchini flower soup)
• Zuppa Certosina (fish and egg drop soup from a Tuscan monastery)
• Zuppa di Moscardini (baby octopus soup)

Secondi ~ Main Courses ~ Meat, fish, poultry and eggs

• Bistecca Fiorentina (Florentine steak)
• Bombette (Pugliese crumbed veal and cheese skewers)
• Braciole Rifatte (Tuscan crumbed veal in tomato sauce)
• Bracioline al Burro (Veal with butter)
• Braciuole nella scamerita (Pork neck with cavolo nero)
• Cinghiale in dolce-forte (Wild boar in chocolate sauce, a recipe from Acquacotta)
• Coniglio alla cacciatora (Hunter’s stew with rabbit and olives)
• Coniglio fritto (Tuscan fried rabbit)
• Cotoletta Milanese (breaded veal chops)
• Cozze ripiene (stuffed mussels)
• Guinea fowl stew (faraona all’aceto)
• Orata al cartoccio (Paper-baked sea bream)
• Pittea Tropeana (fresh sardine and bread cake from Tropea)
• Polpette di Nonna Anna (Pugliese meatballs)
• Pollo al burro (butter chicken)
• Salsicce con uva (sausages with grapes)
• Sarde a beccafico (baked sardines, Sicilian style)
• Slow-braised stuffed squid, a little Arabic influence
• Squab stuffed with sausage and fresh herbs
• Tacchino Tonnato (turkey with tuna sauce)
• Triglie alla Livornese (Livorno style pan fried mullet with fresh tomato)
• Tuscan style meat skewers or Spiedini di carne alla toscana from Tortellini at Midnight
• Uova al Pomodoro (eggs poached in tomato sauce)
• Uova al Pomodoro di Sarah Fioroni (Sarah Fioroni’s Uova al Pomodoro)

Contorni e Insalate ~ Vegetable side dishes and salads

• Beans cooked in a Tuscan jar
• Blood orange and fennel salad
• Caprese salad
• Carciofi in umido con la nepitella (braised artichokes with calamint)
• Carciofi ritti (stuffed stewed artichokes)
• Citron rind salad
• Fagiolini sfiziosi (Pugliese green beans)
• Insalata di carciofi (Raw artichoke salad)
• Insalata di punterelle (punterelle/chichory shoot salad)
• Panzanella di Bronzino (cucumber and bread salad)
• Pomarola (Nonna Lina’s tomato sauce)

Dolci ~ Sweet things

• Affogato
• Almond milk gelato
• Amaretti Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Apricot Jam Crostata
• Baked Apples
• Befanini (soft Tuscan children’s cookies)
• Berlingozzo cake
• Biancomangiare (almond milk pudding)
• Biscotti di meliga (polenta cookies)
• Black locust flower cake
• Blood orange and rosemary cake
• Bomboloni (jam-filled donut balls)
• Buckwheat and jam cake
• Budino di riso (baked rice pudding)
• Cantuccini (Tuscan biscotti)
• Cavallucci cookies
• Celli Ripieni (jam filled cookie dumplings)
• Chestnut flour and fig biscotti
• Chocolate, almond and lemon torta from Sicily
• Chocolate cake (eggless, butterless)
• Chocolate olive oil cake with apricot marmellata and ricotta buttercream (an idea for a wedding cake – see also the end result, here)
• Cinnamon bomboloncini
• Crostata di marmellata
• Crostata di ricotta e pere coscia (ricotta and baby pear tart)
• Crostata di susine selvatiche (wild plum tart)
• Crostatine di ciligie (little cherry tarts)
• Crema Inglese (creme anglais, or runny custard)
• Elderflower fritters (a Renaissance recipe)
• Elizabeth David’s Chocolate Cake
• Fig Frangipane Tart
• Frittelle di Riso (rice fritters)
• Gelato di fior di latte al rosmarino (milk and rosemary gelato)
• Granita al melone e peperoncino (melon and chili granita)
• Hazelnut, brown sugar and espresso biscotti
• Lady fingers, homemade (savoiardi)
• Little lemon polenta cakes
• Maritozzi (Roman buns with whipped cream)
• Mascarpone and blackberry chocolate tart
• Mascarpone and blackberry cake
• Mascarpone and raspberry no-bake pandoro cake
• Mascarpone cream with fresh strawberry sauce (the makings of strawberry tiramisu)
• Millefoglie (puff pastry and diplomat cream layered cake)
• Minne di Sant’Agata (Sicilian ricotta pastries)
• Necci (Tuscan chestnut flour crepes)
• Nocciolata sponge roll
• Pandiramerino (rosemary and raisin buns)
• Panettone and nutella pudding
• Panforte (spicy Sienese fruit and nut cake)
• Panforte with chestnut flour (gluten free and vegan)
• Panna cotta (the ultimate wobbly panna cotta)
• Pastiera Napoletana (Easter cake from Naples)
• Pistachio, polenta and olive oil cake
• Polenta and elderflower cookies
• Polenta and poached pear cake
• Ricotta, spelt and dark chocolate cake
• Ricotta al forno, the simplest baked ricotta cake
• Robinia flower cake
• Robinia flower fritters
• Rose petal and ricotta tartlets
• Sanguinaccio dolce (blood and chocolate pudding)
• Semolino pudding with loquats
• Schiacciata all’uva (Florentine grape bread)
• Schiacciata di Pasqua (Tuscan Easter cake)
• Semolina cake
• Sour cherry and cinnamon sorbet
• Stracciatella al tartufo (truffle and dark chocolate gelato)
• Strawberry Tiramisu
• Stuffed peaches
• Swiss roll with alchermes mascarpone cream and pistachio
• Tiramisu, the classic way
• Tiramisu alla fragola (strawberry tiramisu)
• Tiramisu, with fig and ricotta
• Torrone sardo (Sardinian nougat)
• Torta alle nocciole (hazelnut and espresso cake)
• Torta di Cachi (persimmon cake)
• Torta Caprese (flourless chocolate and almond cake)
• Torta Margherita (“Daisy” cake, or a three-ingredient, gluten free sponge cake)
• Torta di Mele (apple cake)
• Torta di Noci (walnut cake with lemon buttercream)
• Torta di Pasta Frolla (pastry and jam tart)
• Torta di susine (plum and ricotta tart)
• Torta di Zucca Gialla (Artusi’s pumpkin pie)
• Tronco di natale (Christmas yule log)
• Tuscan spice pumpkin bread
• White pound cake
• Zabaione

Da bere ~ Drinks

• Bellini
• Caffe Leccese (coffee and almond milk from Lecce)
• Cedrello (Citron peel liqueur)
• Italian hot chocolate
• Marco’s Martini Rosso Cocktail
• Nocino (walnut liqueur)
• Spritz (and all about aperitivo)

Per la dispensa ~ Preserves, cheese, bread and more

• Acetosa di lamponi (raspberry vinegar)
• An egg for a child
• Apricot Jam
• Brodo (beef stock)
• Cherry jam
• Ciliegie sotto spirito (boozy cherries)
• Date, fig and walnut focaccia
• Fig Honey
• Grape and fig leaf spoon sweets
• Lemon marmalade
• Mascarpone
• Pane all’olio (olive oil bread rolls)
• Pane alle olive (olive bread)
• Ricotta
• Rose petal jam
• Saffron and ricotta frosting for a birthday cake
• Saffron salt
• Sala Verde (parsley sauce to put on everything)
• Soffritto
• Strawberry Tree Jam (marmellata di corbezzoli)
• Sweet pastry
• Sweet Tomato Jam
• Truffle butter (homemade)
• White peach and basil jam
• White Truffle Butter

Celebratory dishes

• Torta Pasqualina (Ligurian Easter pie)