Etruscan pasta - Simple and Honest Cooking!

This has been the month of chocolate mousse for some reason of course I am super cheating because I have found a 2 minute package from Lindt! These are amazing and come in two if not three flavors...cannot remember (brain fart again). All you add is milk and whip (no, not me even though I have been very remiss lately with my recipes and cooking).:-)

As the hot season approaches, the desire for fresh and cool is right up there with finding a way to pay off all debt in one's life ;-) and last week I tried out an old Etruscan recipe and had to wing it.  This is not a cold pasta sauce but it is SUPER simple. All you need is fresh mint, walnuts, garlic, olive oil and the real thing, parmigiano reggiano or grana padana.

For all you seasoned cooks, you just have to guess on the portions. I used quantities I would use for two people making garlic, parsley and oil pasta.

Choose a long pasta, linguini, spaghettini, pici, spaghetti, etc.


For two:
15 - 20 leaves of fresh mint approx.
2-4 cloves garlic depending on tastes
ultra finely chopped walnuts about (4 whole ones)
olive oil extra V, enough to make a sauce to cover the pasta.

Crush the garlic into the oil and begin to saute very slowly.  Finely chop the mint and add to oil mixture and saute about one minute on very low heat take off the heat.


Cook the pasta in salted water, (must use some salt in the cooking otherwise pasta is just flavorless with the sauces).  When al dente, drain and quickly toss into the pan of garlic, oil and mint that you will have deftly put back on the fire just seconds before draining the pasta. Saute high for 2 minutes or less tossing the walnuts into the sautee mix.


Serve in warm bowls and garnish with the parmigiano. Serve with a fabulous frizzy white summer wine from the Veneto region or even a Prosecco would do well with this. Buon appetito!

Regional Tuscan Cooking at it's best!

During one of our lightening fast trips to Tuscany for work, we stopped in at a restaurant and locanda we had passed by in the car on numerous occasions but never had the time to stop in. This is a gem, one worth planning your trip around just to immerse yourself in an atmosphere of top notch Tuscan country living.

This is a small locale hosting rooms as well as, the restaurant and being the curious one that I am, we requested to see the rooms; such a nice surprise to find them done tastefullly and with all the amenties one might wish. Granted, it is over the autostrada and very close to the exit so if you plan on staying for a while, it might be noisy but then again, while soggiorning at Hotel Rosati, I never noticed the traffic noise and this hotel is just a few steps away. Great place for an encounter, dinner downstairs and just crawl or race to the room afterwards. Sex, languid, steamy kiss, cozy.

The decor of the dinning room is ultra classic rustic Tuscan tables, with tables out side for the hotter months. This is a wonderful place for a quick meal or for something completely sumptious, slow and satisfying. The waitresses are patient and friendly and the food is cooked to order; (grilled specialties). One of my favorites was the bruschetta done with freshly grilled/roasted tuscan bread (which as you all know is salt free not to detract from the food). If you are dinning with more than two people, order different appetizers and share, the salame, cinta senese products as well as the cinghiale are out of this world and NOT to be missed. Do not expect a wine list, when asked she trotted back with three bottles of red, all Tuscan of course, a Montepulciano Rosso, and two Brunellos and all three super reasonably priced. I just picked one, the Montepulciano red and we were super satisfied with it, a perfect marriage with the meal. Two other "not-to-miss" dishes are the fagioli al fiasco and the ceci both boiled and served piping hot in their own cooking juice and dressed with a splash of fresh pressed olive oil (yes it was November time of the olive harvests). Anything chosen from the grill is fabulous as are the pasta dishes and the deserts are all homemade (did not have room for even a glance at those).

So, next trip to Tuscany or first timers, plan a journey through Chiusi (Etruscan heaven), Sarteano (wonderful tombs to visit), Montepulciano, Perugia, Orvieto and Siena and make base camp here at the Chiusi Chianciano crossroad, (Loc. Querce al Pino) you will save a few pennies as well as find some of the best Tuscan meals to be had. Oh, and do not forget to make a stop off in Pienza at the cheese and salame shops, pick up a finocchiona and salame both made from the Cinta Senese pork...your taste buds will thank you.

La Locanda della Ribollita

Latte Portoghese with Farm Fresh Eggs (a must)!

Every time I see my favorite "gal," the Bruna Alpina I think of this recipe...

This is a time tested recipe handed down from my Tuscan family ties, a nice and simple variation on custard. I remember this one well because the eggs were always so fresh and the yolks ultra yellow; I can smell it cooking now! Make sure you use an organic orange, wash well.

1 Liter whole milk 5 eggs ultra fresh 10 Tablespoons sugar (baker's sugar or ultra fine sugar) Orange rind Gran Marnier
Boil gently for 20 minutes milk with 5 spoons of sugar and orange peel. Do not let boil over. Cool well.

While cooling, prepare the caramel coating in the molds by placing 4 or 5 tablespoons (depending on the size of the mold) in the bottom with a tablespoon of water. Heat over high heat until the mix melts and bubbles and then continue heating until it begins to color. Take the color (burning if you will) to the point you prefer, which means lighter in flavor or the darker it becomes the heavier the flavor.
Mix 5 tablespoons sugar (or less depending on how sweet you wish this to be) with yolks and Gran Marnier ("season to taste" with this), beat well then add the cooled milk. Lightly beat the whites to mix and add to yolks.
Bake in oven with a pan of water for about 40 – 50 minutes medium oven.

Firenze - Summer and Sangria!

Maybe it is the heat, causing me to think of Firenze, urges for Sangria or is it my usual spring fever...hum. Three recipes for Sangria are posted here, one in Italian, one for parties, English and the basic recipe in English and all superb! Now, all I have to do is grab that crazy maschio to share it with me somewhere high above the city or on some mountain top; I crave high mountains or is it the altitude and Italy combined, the lifestyle, the people, the culture and architecture, the cradle or culla of civilization? I must have lived there in a previous life.

When I took the early train to Florence last fall, I wanted to walk my old haunts and see if I could find a few old friends. Walking from the Santa Maria Novella station I could feel the city take hold of me. I walked around the Duomo and headed for Via Cavour; it was early and most of the eateries were receiving deliveries (the only time vehicles can be on the street) with shopkeepers out front sweeping and moping and washing windows. After passing one intersection I looked up at the pale rose and yellow facades and literally fell into a trance feeling the past around me, in me and pushing through me; I was home, I could not deny it, I had lived here before.

I felt like an Eagle soaring through and around the streets as I continued my walk.
Upon passing Piazza della Republica I yearned for more time to sit at the pink café seated outside nursing an espresso. Finally I spotted, through a space in two buildings, my favorite vista of Piazza della Signoria and I had to stop and lean against a wall. I felt as if someone had punched me in my gut; and someone had, my beloved city my favorite piazza; so many feelings assault me when I get to this square.

Years ago, when I lived close to the city, I remember walking through that same Piazza with my husband; it was late November, wicked cold and windy and it was night time although, not late. As we made it to the center near the fountain, we stopped and just listened, voraciously soaking up the solitude, the distinct lack of tourists and the cold air. I knew he was oblivious to what was coursing through me because he had slowly drifted away walking towards the Uffizi. I stood there and felt myself going back in time, as if someone was taking me back to this same spot, centuries ago.

I felt the different clothing I was wearing; I heard the horses and carriages over the uneven stones I could even smell the different scents, the fire pots burning in the square. Unexpectedly, it seemed as if I was in the midst of a crowd, spirits brushing against me and all this laughter, chatter and noise whirling around.

My husband yelled at me to get moving and I snapped out of it to find utter silence except for the water falling in Neptune’s fountain (by Bartolomeo Ammannati). The wind was shoving me and, with the suggestive lighting of that square, I knew I had been there a lifetime before. Ah, home sweet home. So yes, when I crave Italy, now I truly understand why. I just wish I could make more frequent visits to this now crazy, loud and dirty city; my city, my past (or maybe it was a past I best forget).