Ingredients:
6 bunches of zucchini flowers (approximately half pound or 250 grams), 6 zucchini, 2 cloves of garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, salty pecorino cheese (Parmesan can be a substitute), extra virgin olive oil, meat stock, toasted Tuscan bread slices rubbed with garlic.

Preparation:
Clean the zucchini flowers (remove the pistil, wash them and dry them), then cut them in stripes. Clean and slices the zucchini, caring not to make too thick slices. Get a pan and set one crushed garlic clove inside, add a handful of minced parsley and pour olive oil to taste inside, however, not too much (three spoonfuls are fine). Cook over low heat and when the garlic starts to brown, remove it from the pan. Now add the sliced zucchini and zucchini flowers, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Do not let the zucchini become too golden. Now add the meat stock and salt, then cook for 35 minutes over medium-low heat.
When the soup is cooked, prepare the dishes setting the toasted bread slices rubbed with garlic at the bottom of the dish (two in each), then pour the soup on and dust with the grated cheese.

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Ingredients:
8 Veal cutlets for a total of 600 grams, 400 grams of ripe tomatoes, 200 grams of ham, Sage, A stalk of celery, An onion, Two carrots, Good dry white wine, Olive oil, Salt

Preparation:
Place the veal chops flat on a cutting board and lightly beat them with a meat beater one at the time. Then place on each an equal number of slices of ham and a few leaves of sage along the rolling axis. Roll up the meat forming roulades and stick toothpicks across each roll to hold the meat in place. In a pan or high frying pan sauté the chopped onion, celery and carrots. When the vegetables are soft and browned add the meat rolls and brown them over medium heat. Then rise the heat and add half a glass of white wine. As soon as the wine evaporates add the chopped tomatoes. Add salt and continue cooking over low heat, stirring occasionally and adding, if the sauce becomes too dry, hot water or stock. When the meat is very tender to the fork your recipe is ready. Cook with the lid partially on. Serve with a side of boiled or mashed potatoes, or uccelleto beans.

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Ingredients: 1 kilo of ripe tomatoes, 350 grams of stale bread, 100 grams of olive oil, 1.5 liters of mildly salted stock or water, 2 to 4 cloves of garlic (to taste), Plenty of fresh basil, Salt, Pepper

Preparation:
Florentine way
Wash the tomatoes, remove seeds, chop them then cook over medium heat. Sieve after cooking. Same procedure for canned peeled tomatoes. Slice the bread and toast in the oven. Bring the stock (or water) to boil, then add the mashed tomatoes, the slices of bread, olive oil, the chopped garlic, whole basil sticks with leaves (which will then be removed) and salt and pepper. Cook until the liquid is almost completely evaporated, stirring often so the bread becomes dense. This soup is served hot or cold. Pour a twirl of olive oil over it on each dish.
Sienese Way
The pappa al pomodoro can also be prepared by browning onion, garlic and basil and then adding the tomatoes into small pieces. After half an hour add the bread slices, the water and continue cooking until the bread turns into a dense mass.

According to another variant the Pappa is prepared throwing everything in the pan at the same time, the slices of bread, olive oil, chopped garlic and basil, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and water or broth.

Suit yourself, choose which variation you like best. In any case it is an excellent Tuscan recipe!

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Ingredients:
- 800 grams of Fresh red garbanzo beans – 500 grams of tomatoes, fresh or peeled – 50 grams of pork lard – 100 grams of pork rind – 30 grams of parsley – A piece of cabbage – A celery stalk – Some kale leaves – An onion – Basil – Garlic – Red chili pepper – Bread – Olive oil – Salt – Black Pepper

Preparation:
Shell the beans, set them to cook on high heat with two liters of cold water. When it starts to boil lower to minimum and cook very slowly. Add salt only when they are almost cooked. In the meantime prepare a mixture with bacon, onion, celery, two cloves of garlic, parsley, some basil leaves and a piece of red chili pepper. Mince everything together then pour the mixture into a saucepan, add four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and saute over low heat.
Blanch the pork rind in boiling water, boil for 10 minutes the kale leaves and the piece of cabbage. Peel the tomatoes, discard the seeds, break them into pieces and add them to the mixture, add a little pepper, the keep stirring often and cook for about 15 minutes. When the beans are done, throw the mixture into the pot along with beans. Cut the rind, the kale and the cabbage in stripes and also set them in the pot with the beans. Stir often and cook for 40 minutes or more until the rind are very tender.
Pour the preparation directly into soup bowls where you have previously laid toasted slices of bread rubbed with a clove of garlic. It is a simple but very tasty soup.
If you would like to try it out, there also is a variation. Replace the bread with pasta (better if of the short and flat kind) and sift half of beans, adding the mash to the rest of the whole beans. If you use dry beans you should mash about three quarters of the quantity.

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I love Emily Dickinson, and I have always found these lines very amusing. When I thought about writing this Tuscan recipe about frogs the poem immediately came to my mind, and I had to throw a quote in!
Now let’s get to forks and knives…
For those of you that might think that this is a disgusting recipe (Eating frogs? Oh my!) I would recommend trying them once. You will be surprised by the delicacy and great taste of the meat.
Where can you find frogs to cook? I honestly have no idea! In Tuscany they can be found frozen and peeled or still fresh to be cleaned up. You will have to look around in your town if you have no clue. Try to get them skinned and cleaned in any case.
There is a long tradition of cooking frogs in Tuscany. Kids used to be the primary source of this food as they would have fun capturing them by the pond. Each portion of Tuscany cooks them its own way. This is a Florentine style recipe.

Ingredients:
- 400 grams of already cleaned and skinned frogs
- 50 grams of olive oil
- White flour
- 4 eggs
- Lemon
- Salt
- Pepper

Preparation:
Wash and dry the frogs, then set in flour to dust. Heat up a pan with olive oil and when it is hot, however not excessively so, get the frogs and brown them well on all sides. Meanwhile, break the eggs into a bowl, add salt and pepper, add the juice of half a lemon, beat everything well and then pour over the frogs, covering them all. Do not stir the eggs and let them coagulate. Serve the dish in the cooking pan so to keep the frogs very hot. An optional cooking method calls for an oven, or even a wood oven. After pouring the beaten eggs set the pan to finish cooking in the oven. For this option is preferable to use an earthenware pot to fry and cook the frogs. Now they are ready to…jump in your mouth!

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Ingredients:
- 500 grams of ripe and juicy tomatoes
- 400 grams of pasta for sauce not for broth (long or short)
- One onion
- One carrot
- One stalk of celery
- A few basil leaves
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Olive-oil
- Salt
- Pepper

Preparation:
Wash and chop the tomatoes, remove the seeds, then set them in a saucepan. Slice half onion and add it to the tomatoes with the basil leaves. Finely mince the carrot and the celery then add them to the tomatoes with a pinch of salt. Place the saucepan on medium heat until it starts to boil, then turn to low heat. Do not cover and stir often. Let cook for half hour. Get a food processor and mill the content of the saucepan when it is done cooking. If you have a hand operated one it is even better. Set the milled sauce in a bowl. Using a clean saucepan, pour in it a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the remainder onion after slicing it. Let it golden over medium heat, then add the sauce in the bowl and salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes stirring.
Meanwhile, prepare a pan with 3 or 4 liters of water, add salt to taste (a handful) then set it to boil. When it is at a rolling boil pour in the pasta and cook until it is of your taste, preferably al dente. Using a colander drain the water and then dress with the sauce and three tablespoons of Parmesan. Stir gently and thoroughly, then serve immediately.

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Ingredients:
- 1 kilo of flour (The original recipe calls for very fine yellow corn flower, but white flour is better)
- 5 eggs
- 400 grams of sugar
- 32 grams of baking powder
- 350 grams of butter
- 250 grams of raisins
- 200 grams of almonds
- 100 grams of pine nuts

Preparation:
When the butter is at room temperature, start working it into the flour, adding the sugar little by little. add the yeast and the eggs. Mix all the ingredients coarsely helping yourself with a fork) then add the almonds, raisins and pine nuts. Continue to mix kneading thoroughly.
Divide the dough into fairly large pieces, create your little buns roughly shaped like a half ball. You should obtain 40 to 45 biscuits.
Now it’s time to bake! Set the oven to 200 Celsius. When hot, put the Pane del Pescatore buns in and leave for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you see they start changing color. The dough must preserve a quite clear color to remain soft to the bite.

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Ingredients:
- A hare (alternatively a rabbit, or a chicken)
- 100 grams of Extra Virgin Olive oil
- 50 grams of butter
- 3 Chicken livers
- Onion
- Celery
- Carrot
- Two-bay leaves
- Dry Marsala (find below the substitute recipe)
- 1 feaspoon of white flour
- Tomato paste
- Salt
- Pepper

Preparation:
Clean the hare (rabbit or chicken) and cut it into small pieces, taking apart the liver. Then lightly golden the pieces with oil and butter. Chop the onion, celery, carrot and bay leaves and them to the meat. Season with salt and pepper and let the meat brown with the vegetables. Clean and chop the hare and chicken livers, then add them to the browning meat and sprinkle the meat with half a glass of Marsala. If you do not have dry Marsala, you can substitute it with a mixture with these proportions: one quarter cup of dry white wine and one teaspoon of brandy. Mix in proportion until you get half a glass. When the liquid has evaporated, sprinkle the meat with the teaspoon of flour, then pour two tablespoons of tomato paste that you have previously diluted with a ladle of hot water. Continue to cook over low heat and small bubbling. As soon as the hare is cooked take it out of the pan and place it on a hot serving plate. Sift all that is left in the pot and pour it over the hare. Accompany with a white risotto or polenta. You can also serve the stew with a side of black olives.

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Ingredients:
- 400 grams of fresh fava beans with pod
- 400 grams of ripe tomatoes
- 300 grams of fresh peas with pod
- 300 grams of rice
- 80 grams of extra virgin olive oil
- 50 grams of bacon
- A zucchini
- An onion
- A fresh young carrot
- A stalk of celery
- A handful of parsley
- Some basil leaves
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt
- Pepper

Preparation:
Shell the peas and fava beans, keeping them in separate bowls. Chop the onion, the carrot, the celery, the parsley and the basil, then set them all in a saucepan pouring in the olive oil and the chopped bacon. When they are browned, add the previously peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, and the fava beans. Also add the zucchini that you must previously scrape then finely chop.
Season with salt and pepper. While the vegetables are cooking over slow heat, heat a quart (a liter) of salted water. After about 20 minutes of slow cooking, add the peas to the vegetables, and after 10 minutes also add the rice. Stir the rice and vegetables, then let it roast a little, about 5 minutes, then pour in a ladle of boiling water. Keep stirring, and add a ldle of boiling water each time you see the one you previously poured has been absorbed. Keep doing this until the rice is cooked. Just before removing from the heat add three tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and gently stir. Let it rest about 5 minutes with the lid on, then serve hot.

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Ingredients:
- Half kilo of long pasta (like spaghetti, bucatini)
- 200 grams of walnuts with the shell
- 150 grams of salty aged cheese, like the Sardinian or Parmesan cheese
- 100 grams of fresh basil leaves
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt

Preparation:
Get a pestle and mortar and start mashing in the cheese with the basil leaves and the shelled walnuts. Pou in the olive oil to get a homogeneous mix. While you are preparing the sauce, set a pan full of water over high heat. 4 liters of salted water are sufficient for half kilo of pasta. When the water is at a rolling boil, pour in the pasta making sure the strings do not get attached one another by turning the pasta while it is boiling, especially the first few minutes. Taste it to know it is at your desired cooking stage, then drain it and add the sauce you have prepared, then mix. It is important that you do not let the pasta sit there either in the water or after draining it. The pasta should go straight into your sauce right after draining it. One secret for a soft sauce is to add a little of the cooking water (two or three tablespoons) to it after you are done with the pestle. Serve warm.

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