Tuscan Bruschetta

Bruschetta is an Italian starter whose origin dates back to the 15th century and earlier. It consists of roasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive, salt and pepper. Variations may include  different toppings the most popular involves basil and fresh tomato. In Tuscany it  is also called fettunta and it is usually served without toppings, in November, to taste new oil.

Bruschetta 

• Tomato
• Bread
• Oil
• Salt
• Garlic
• Pepper
• Basil

Cut the tomatoes in pieces, add basil, oil, salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for ½ hour. Toast the slices of bread on the grill.  

Rub both sides of the bread with garlic, sprinkle with salt and season with the oil. Place the marinate on the slices of bread and serve hot. 

Tortino Tricolore

It 's a colorful savoury cake , with   a fresh Mediterranean taste.In summer  we like serving “caprese”, but in winter it is delicious  to serve  this  warm dish .

Tortino with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

Ingredients (for a loaf pan by 24x10x7cm)

250g of bread for sandwiches

250 gr. mozzarella, preferably buffalo

300g firm tomatoes

40g of grated grana or parmesan cheese 

12 basil leaves

2 eggs

150ml milk 

Olive oil as much as needed

Salt  3 pinches 

We wash the tomatoes, divide into two parts and, in a bowl, dress them with salt, cheese, oil and  chopped basil leaves. 

In a bowl, beat eggs with milk, dip the slices of bread cut appropriately to coat the bottom and the edge of the pan,previously lined with parchment paper. 

We distribute half of the seasoned tomatoes  into the pan, then place over the well-drained mozzarella,  then cover it with the other tomatoes  and end with a layer ofslices of bread.

Bake at 200 C° for about 40  minutes or until golden brownWhen baked , leave the cake to cool and decorate with basil leaves and tomatoes.

Crostini di Salsiccia

Italian dishes are extremely simple: the important thing is the quality of the ingredients used.

Crostini alla salsiccia, called crostini if made with a small slice of toasted bread, and crostoni  if done with a large slice of bread,  are beloved. You can eat them raw if the sausages are fresh, up to the day before, and if you can trust the butcher, or cooked. Very good and beloved, just look at those who are on FB group "Crostini di salsiccia e Stracchino"

Crostini di Salsiccia 

2 sausages                  

100g stracchino cheese

parsley

salt,pepper

bread

Chop the sausages and mix them with the stracchino until you obtain a smooth cream.

Mix in the parsley,salt and pepper. 

Spread the cream on bread slices.

Then place in the oven at 180° C  for 5 minutes. Serve them immediately.

Ribollita _Tuscan Soup

Ribollita means 're-cooked' in Italian. Tuscan peasants prepared a soup with various green vegetables, served with a slice of bread just to give more consistency to the food.Peasants were poor and had not very much to eat .It is still common nowadays to serve soups with a slice of bread in each bowl .

They left the soup with bread on a side ,the day after they served it reheated .That’s what ‘s done nowadays ,not even waiting one day if not possible. The longer it lingers, the better it gets.
There are many different recipes, but most Tuscan recipes call for cavolo nero - black leaf kale - the closest substitute being savoy (green, crinkled, loose-leafed) cabbage - and cannelini - tuscan white beans .

Ribollita Toscana

200 g “cannellini” beans

20 leaves “cavolo nero”

2 swiss chards

200 gr green beans

1 savoy cabbage

4 Potato

Tomato sauce

Pancetta

Onion

Garlic

Parsley

2 stock cubes

Salt

Stale Bread

Oil

In a large casserole or cast iron or cast aluminum pot, with a cover and a thick bottom heat the olive on a bit more than medium heat - you want to sautee the ingredients slowly until the onion is transparent or lightly golden NOT browned - add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, leek, optional garlic stirring often until the onion has turned color (about ten minutes, depending on the heat)

Add a little water and a glass of tomato sauce. When this mixture boils add to it the vegetables (4 potatoes , 1 savoy cabbage , 200g green beans, 2 swiss chards and 20 leaves of black cabbage) which you have previously cut into big pieces.

First add the the harder vegetables and then the softer ones. Add, pureeing half of them, 200g of cannellini beans which you have cooked separately.When the vegetables are half-cooked add two stock cubes and season with salt. Leave to cook for at least one hour.

When all of the vegetables are soft prepare some slices of stale bread in a large bowl. Add olive oil and then cover with a layer of the cooked vegetables. Continue making layers of bread and vegetables. Now you have a “zuppa di pane” (bread soup).

Put some olive oil in a frying pan,add the “zuppa di pane” and cook it until a slight crust forms, if possible. Now you have your ribollita.

Panzanella,Tuscan Salad

It’s a sunny and hot summer in Chianti, Tuscany , and after a week of cooking classes we have leftover of Tuscan bread . Perfect ! we can prepare a Panzanella This dish is a bread salad , popular in the Tuscan countryside in summer months . It includes stale bread , flavourful tomatoes , red onion, basil , extra vergin olive oil, good red wine vinegar , salt and pepper.
Sometimes it is considered a “leftover salad” and you can add other ingredients including cucumber, capers , hard boiled eggs, tuna, garlic , carrots , bell pepper
In Southern Italy they substitute basil with oregano

Panzanella

Stale bread
Ripe tomatoes sliced
Basil
Red onion
(Cucumbers)
Olive oil
Vinegar
Salt, Pepper
Leave the bread to soak in cold water for 15 minutes. When it is soft, take some in your hands a little at a time and squeeze it well. Put the bread in a salad bowl and add the tomatoes, the onion and the basil leaves. Stir everything well and put the bowl in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve the panzanella, add some vinegar.

Potato Focaccia in Tuscany

Red,red,red,bright,energetic,good luck colour also for food.Food is a pleasure to eyes,to the palate to the body to the spirit.Potato Focaccia with tomatoes on top is all of this.

Focaccia con Patate

500g flour
250g potatoes
20g yeast
3 spoonfuls oil
2 tomatoes
salt

Boil the potatoes for 40 minutes. Peel them,mash them and leave to cool. Then mix the potatoes,flour,yeast,salt and some water. Then leave to rise for 1 hour in a cool place. Then mix again for a few minutes. Place the mixture on a greased baking tray and place pieces of tomato on top. Leave to rise for another 30 minutes. Place in the oven at 200°C for 30 minutes.

This Potato Focaccia has some connections with the typical bread from Apulia. The best known of it is nowadays Pane di Altamura ,as you can read in many articles. Have a look at the beautiful pictures by the Dave Yoder on New York Times.

Next to the Focaccia let’s serve crostini with Tarragon.crostini is the word used in Tuscany for a slice of bread with a sauce on top.

Crostini Empoli

3 spoonfuls of parsley
½spoonful of tarragon
5 mint leaves
3 spoonfuls of capers
1 hard-boiled egg
2 tomatoes
½small glass of olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Chop up parsley, tarragon, mint, capers, egg, add a spoonful of oil and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Then mix them with the rest of the oil, salt and pepper. Place the two bowls in the fridge for one hour. Then, mix the two sauces .Place them on some slices of bread and serve.

This recipe was also named on Cooking Light by the editor.­­­­­­