Autumn in Tuscany, Chestnuts, Porcini Mushrooms and Ribollita Soup

 photo above the Minestra.

I have certainly perfected my recipe for minestra!! or in English known as a minestrone.  The wonderful thing about this soup recipe is that it can be reinvented into 3 different dishes.  On day one, you make your minestra and enjoy a big bowl of vegetable and white cannellini bean soup, for dinner that night you can diversify it into a minestra di pane. Simply by ladling some of your minestrone into the base of a big deep bowl, then thinly slice your old stale bread and place it on top of the minestrone, then sprinkle some grated parmesan and continue this in layers until you use up all of your minestrone. Serve and enjoy whilst hot. 

What you cannot finish for dinner you save and reinvent the next day into a ribollita, the well known Tuscan bread soup!! Using your left over Minestra di Pane, you heat a fry pan with some extra virgin olive oil and you spoon the thick soup (it is nearly the consistency of polenta) into the pan and let it get a crust on one side and then turn it like an omlette and form a crust on the other side. Serve warm.

Autumn such a great season to be in Tuscany!!

read the next blog for the recipe for Minestra as Minestrone.

One of the reasons why I love living in Italy is because it has 4 very established seasons. From season to season the colour of the landscape changes, the temperature in the air, the length of the days and of course all the varied foods that can be enjoyed within each season. 

Now that we are in the middle of Autumn the colours of the trees are just magnificent, amber, red and yellow colours that are splendid. The mornings and evenings are fresher but the sky is still bright blue.  At night you light the fire, for warmth and company.

The beauty of the Autumn colours

The glorious autumn food is plentiful in the mountains where we live and we thrive on gathering all that is on offer.  We have a great selection of wild mushrooms, mostly, porcini, pinoroli and the prized ovuli.

Porcini mushrooms can be used in so many ways, sautéed and served on a bruschetta or tossed through a pasta, sliced thinly and served as a salad, grilled whole to accompany your big bistecca or fritte, to enjoy as a canapé or side dish!!!

In our surrounding mountains we also have plenty of Chestnut trees and an abundance of chestnuts are falling to the ground. Our favourite way to enjoy them is to roast them over the open fire and enjoy eating them accompanied with a glass of Sangiovese wine

The autumn vegetables are ready for picking in our garden so I have an abundance of fennel, Cavolo Nero, Cime di Rape, and silver beet.

Ten Unmissable Festivals in Cortona

There are so many great reasons to come and enjoy a holiday in the Etruscan village of Cortona, located in Tuscany just over an hour south of Florence and 2 hours north of Rome
One of the things that I enjoy most about our time living here in Italy is all the wonderful festivals they offer.  Cortona is renowned for the number of festivals it offers in the Spring, Summer and Autumn months.
The most significant of these events is the famous “SAGRA DELLA BISTECCA” (Steak Festival) with the largest wire rack turned on in Italy.
It is held every year in the public gardens of Cortona. On a wire rack giant 14 meters (the largest in Italy) are cooked T-bone steaks, strictly Chianina meat, and I can assure you the meat is to die for especially as it is cooked over the open flame and naturally enjoyed with a good glass of Chianti Sangiovese or Cortona Shiraz.

Other food festivals on offer are the PORCINI MUSHROOM festival also held in August where you can enjoy the fresh porcini mushrooms in so many ways, The hard decision is what to eat!! Wow should I have Bruschetta with sautéed porcini, tagliatelle with fungi porcini, bistecca with sautéed porcini, porcini fritte, or a Carpaccio salad with porcini!! All ways are yummy!!

The CHOCOLATE festival at the end of September is not to be missed also!
Not to be missed at the end of May and early June is the well known historical festival ARCHIDADO JOUST people are lead back to the ancient medieval splendor of the city. The streets are decorated in medieval style, ladies, knights, flag flyers, crossbow shooters, soldiers, pages, civil and religious authorities, all dressed with fine costumes, liven up the city center, which is rich in history and artistic beauties of every time. The atmosphere in Cortona is magical and electric!! Click to read more www.giostraarchidado.com

The ANTIQUE festival is well known as the “MOSTRA ANTIQUARIA” and runs on weekends in August and September, both main piazzas in Cortona are filled with stalls selling interesting Antiques.
CORTONA ON THE MOVE is a display of professional photography work from international photographers and is presented in 4 different locations around Cortona and runs from the middle of July to the end of September,
The CORTONA MIX FESTIVAL is 10 days of a great line up of music and theatre performances offering, modern to classical with the Toscana orchestra performing, Many of the events are held in the main Piazza Signorelli and also in the wonderful Theatre in Cortona. This runs during the last week of July and into August.
The EUROPEAN FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND FOLK DANCING is held on the 13th August and brings Piazza Signorelli to life with old fashioned dancing costumes and music!

To find out more about these unmissable festivals visit the official Cortona Festival website.

www.cortonamia.com.it

Pecorino Cheese Soufflé with Truffled Honey

Makes 8

Ingredients

• 3 whole eggs

• 125gm grated matured pecorino

• 3 tbls spoons of truffled honey

• 250 ml whipping cream

• sea salt

 Method

Place the eggs and cream into a bowl and mix with a whisk till combined well.  Season with the salt and fold in the grated cheese.

Portion the mixture into 8 soufflé dishes and place in a bain-marie filled with water and back for 15 minutes in an oven at 180 degrees.

Serve immediately once it is cooked and drizzle the honey over the top and serve with crostini on the side.

Truffle hunting in Umbria

Mad About Tuscany is in its 3rd year now, and some of our original guests from the 2012 tours have already returned. Other guests have expressed interest in booking for next year. So I have been out researching wonderful new experiences to add to the itinerary for future and returning guests.

We had a great day truffle hunting with friends Gabriella and Saverio at their Bianconi truffle farm in Umbria. We met in the plantation in a small group of 6 and went searching for the "black gold" with 2 highly trained dogs and 3 masters. We were extremely successful finding just under 500gm of black truffle and was lucky enough to dig out the biggest, thanks to the sensitive noses of the truffle dogs, trained to find the earthy truffle scent.

Next we explored a medieval village and its underground city, with an aperitivo in the piazza.  We returned to Bianconi to join Gabriella's tour of the factory where all the truffles are prepared for sale or made into one of the many wonderful truffle products. The range of products was fantastic, from the classic truffle butters and salsas to dried pastas, biscuits and dressings. Gabriella gave us a cooking demonstration and allowed us to taste various beautiful truffle infused products - delicious!

We sat down to a banquet dinner, where everything was made with truffle, even the dessert!

Great day out enjoying the company of wonderful hosts Gabriella and Saverio, great food, scenery and very informative too.

Since getting home I have made a soufflé with grated truffle on top, here is the recipe, enjoy!

Welcome to Tuscany

Tuscany is undoubtedly regarded as the tourist mecca of Italy. Known as Bella Toscana, it is located in the centre of Italy, just 220km north of Rome.

Boasting Florence as its capital city, it is renowned for its arts, museums, culture and beauty.

The area that we love and know so well is the famous hillside town of Cortona along with the surrounding Val d'orcia region. Cortona is a small medieval hill town lying between Lago Trasimeno and the Appennino mountains.

Combining all the advantages of a small city rich in history and archaeological wonders dating back to the Etruscan, Roman and Renaissance eras, it still retains the best of traditional rural Tuscan life.

It is also a fantastic location for discovering the hidden gems of Tuscany and Umbria. With an endless list of small towns, all achievable as day trips through the picture postcard rolling hills of Tuscany, you will feel you have discovered the real Tuscany you came to see and enjoy.