Authentic Tuscan Recipes

My friends Martha and Piero live in the Tuscan hills about an hour outside Florence. I was telling them about a new book I've been reading called A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany by Beth Elon and how it contains a section on their very small town, Stia, in the area known as the Casentino. The Casentino Valley of the Arno River is one of the most beautiful places in Tuscany.

Anyway, this gem of a book discusses the regional dishes of ten different geographic areas in Tuscany as well as a bit about each one's special history and traditions. It goes further and talks about 4 or 5 specific towns in each area and offers authentic recipes from local restaurants.

The recipe given for Stia from the trattoria Filetto is Tortelli di Patate (Potato Ravioli). Piero, who grew up in Stia and returned there as an adult a few years ago, assures me that it is indeed a very traditional dish. But he also offered one of his own for a Scottiglia (meat stew) that I want to share with you.

Piero writes: 

This recipe for Scottiglia is the most Casentinese of all and dates back centuries. It had been almost forgotten, but now is coming up again. It is a kind of a stew and not difficult to make.

I am going to give you the quantities for 6 people.

12 pieces of lean pork

12 pcs. between chicken, duck and squab

6 pcs. of rabbit

6 pcs. of lamb

1 onion - one carrot - one celery stalk - parsley, basil, finely chopped

A generous amount of good quality olive oil

Good strong red wine

One pound of canned tomatoes. (These have been added recently. Once upon the time we did not know tomatoes in Italy, therefore the Scottiglia was made without them.)

Chicken or vegetable broth 

Good home made bread, if possible Italian, the one with the crust all around it, one or two days old.

Salt and pepper

Put all the meat in a large pot and saute it for about 5 minutes (without olive oil).

Make the soffrito and add to the meat. (Note: An Italian soffrito is finely chopped onion, celery, and carrot sauteed gently in olive oil until all is soft . In this one, Piero adds some chopped fresh parsley and basil).

 When everything is nice and brown add 2 glasses of wine and simmer until the wine has evaporated. Add a couple of big ladles of broth and salt and pepper to taste, cover the pot and let it cook for at least 2-3 hours at medium low heat.

Every now and then add some broth because the stew must be juicy. If you want, add the tomatoes after the soffritto has cooked. In the end the meat must be very tender. It must come off the bones .

Slice the bread and toast it. Put a couple of slices in each plate while hot and put the meat with its juice on the top.

There are two different stories about the invention of this recipe. The first one is that groups of friends who liked to go hunting in the woods were meeting at the end of the hunt and cooking what they had.

The second one tells about young guys living in the country and when they decided to have a good dinner, they would go out to steal the night before whatever they could find in the surrounding farms, and make something delicious with their booty.

Anyway, buon appetito to everybody!

Thanks, Piero, it sounds delicious. But I have to say that I bet that recipe would easily feed 10-12 people here in the US. Also, rabbit is a specialty meat here and can be hard to find unless you have a butcher who can order it for you. Just use a little extra pork, chicken or lamb if you can't get rabbit.

As you can see, exact quantities are not important. It's the flavorful soffrito, the good red wine, and the long slow cooking that make this dish so luscious.  I'll have to ask him what kind of pasta would typically be served first. Follow the stew with a salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

We'll be tasting authentic Tuscan food this fall on our Tastes of Tuscany Tour, including cinghiale (wild boar), black truffles and plenty of lovely Chianti. 

We can also arrange a free-time excursion to Stia for a  mushroom hunting hike in the Tuscan hills with Piero--and lunch prepared by the talented Martha at their home (where I've eaten some of the best meals of my life) at a special price for our clients. Stia is a charming little town, complete with its own castle.

I can't wait to be in Italy again in October....

We still have spots available for the Tastes of Tuscany Tour (October 13-26), but time is running out. If you want to join us, don't delay!