Traditional dishes:

Crostini

Ingredients for 6

50 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
500 g chicken liver
1 small glass dry white wine
3 salted anchovies, rinsed and minced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and minced
25 g butter
6 slices Tuscan bread (country style)
Salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the onion. Cook until onion is soft and transparent. Add the chicken livers and sauté for 10 minutes, adding a splash of white wine every so often. Remove livers and finely chop then place them back in the frying pan. Throw in the minced anchovies and capers and cook for about 10 minutes stirring often. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the butter. Toast the bread on both sides and top with the warm liver pâté. Serve immediately.

Ribollita: hearty Tuscan bean soup

Ingredients for 4

1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 rib celery, roughly chopped
Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
Small bunch fresh thyme
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
750 g cavolo nero, rinsed and cut into strips
250 g fresh beans (or 150 g dried beans, soaked overnight)
2 liters boiling water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 slices stale Tuscan bread, toasted and rubbed with garlic

Heat a good drizzling of olive oil in a terracotta pot and add the chopped carrot, onion and celery. After sautéing for about 10 minutes add the tomatoes, the thyme and the chopped potatoes. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes then add the cavolo nero and the beans, cover with the boiling water, season with salt and pepper and leave to cook over a low heat for 2 hours or until beans are cooked. Using a potato masher, reduce part of the soup to a purée leaving some of the beans and vegetables whole. (You could also whiz half the soup in a food processor then return to the pot.) Arrange the toasted bread in the bottom of 4 soup dishes and ladle soup on top. Season with more pepper, finish with a generous drizzling of olive oil and serve.

Pappardelle con la lepre: pappardelle with hare sauce

Ingredients for 4

700 g hare (or rabbit) meat
50 g butter
50 g pancetta, minced
½ onion, minced
½ rib celery, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1 glass dry white wine
400 g pappardelle pasta

Cut the hare into very small pieces, almost mincing it. Heat the butter in a terracotta pot and add the pancetta, onion, celery and garlic and cook over a low heat until onion is soft and transparent. Add the meat, stirring well and season with salt and pepper. When meat has browned, sprinkle in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes before pouring in the white wine. Continue to simmer over a low heat until meat is cooked and sauce has reduced somewhat and adding a little water if necessary. Adjust seasoning. Cook the pappardelle in abundant salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta, add to the sauce and toss well. Serve immediately.

Arista: roast loin of pork

Ingredients for 4

1 pork loin approx. 1.25 kg
2 cloves garlic
Few sprigs fresh rosemary
Few fresh sage leaves
Few sprigs parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Mince the garlic and herbs together with a good pinch of salt and pepper and mix with a little olive oil to create a paste. With a sharp knife, cut a few slits in the pork loin and insert a little of the herb mixture into the slits. Rub the remaining herbs all over the outside of the meat and place in a roasting tin. Drizzle generously with extra-virgin olive oil and place in an oven preheated to 400ºF. After 10 minutes, lower heat to 350 ºF and continue to cook for a further 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Panforte: spiced Christmas cake

Ingredients for one cake

200g almonds
100g walnuts
100g hazelnuts
150g candied orange and lemon peel, chopped
100g dried figs, chopped
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch white pepper
Generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg
50g cocoa powder
75g type 00 flour
175g honey
100g sugar
25g icing sugar plus 1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F, and line a buttered 24cm round cake tin with rice paper. (Otherwise, buttered, floured baking parchment will do.)

Toast the three types of nuts under a hot grill, being careful not to burn them, then chop or whiz briefly in a food processor. Place nuts into a bowl and add the candied peel, the figs and all the spices. Sieve in the cocoa powder and the flour and mix well.

In a small, thick-bottomed pan (or in the microwave), gently heat the honey then add the sugar stirring continuously until the honey is hot and the sugar is perfectly incorporated. Pour honey mixture immediately over the fruits and nuts and stir gently until well mixed. Spoon mixture into the prepared cake tin, smoothing the top with the spoon. Bake for 40 minutes until dry. Allow to cool slightly then remove cake from tin and place on a wire rack. Once completely cool, dust the top of the cake with the icing sugar mixed with the cinnamon. Alternatively, cake can also be covered with melted dark chocolate. Wrapped well in foil, this cake will keep for up to a couple of months.

Cantucci: Tuscan almond cookies

300 g whole almonds with skin
3 eggs, beaten
150 g butter
500 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Juice and grated zest of 1 orange
500 g all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
Butter