July 20 Monday – Celebrating our Total Lack of Complex Dietary Requirements

“How much is this”

“35 euros”

“What? My friend here bought the exact same one this morning and paid 20”

“Okay 20”

Other times, it was more like “NO SOUP FOR YOU”.

Chrystal spent the afternoon with the chefs engaging in a dream private cooking class while the rest of us continued our orgasmic shopfest, and what a stellar job she and they did!!

As I mentioned previously, I reached my shopping limit one day earlier and had little interest in street goods. However, right in the middle of the San Lorenzo market, past all the kiosks and crowds was the MERCATO CENTRALE! My personal version of heaven….Rows and rows of fresh vegetables and food, booths with wine and oil, entire stalls dedicated to mushrooms or fresh pasta. I wandered around the market admiring everything. I found scamorza cheese (the smoked mozzarella) that I have been searching for in Vancouver for several years!  Super exited!  I bought olive oil and balsamic vinegar (14.75E), two types of bread (4.24E), mozzarella, burrata and scamorza cheeses (19.66E), olives (2.5E) and lots and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables (28E). They had the flat peaches that I had eaten in rome but no green figs. There were enormous tomatoes called an Oxheart (Cuore del bue) tomato as well as the smaller Florentine tomatoes. The grocer told me how to slice each type – flat “steaks” and wedges. Taking my cue from the Valencia food market, I didn’t handle any of the fruits and vegs but let her pick the best fruit and put it in a bag along with some free basil.  Considering the Italian’s affection for using all parts of the animal, I avoided the butcher and the deli. 

Starters: 

1. fett’unta all’olio, al pomodoro, ai fagioli e ai pomodorini. (Toasted tuscan bread “bruschetta” with olive oil,with fresh tomatoes, with beans and cherry tomatoes)

Marinate chopped up tomatoes, garlic and ripped up basil together with olive oil at room temperature. Do not add salt at this point as it draws the salt out of the tomatoes.

Marinate a can of white beans, olive oil, salt and sage leaves for flavour. Just before serving remove all the sage leaves.

Toast the bread just before serving, add the toppings, season with salt and pepper and serve.

2. tomino al forno avvolto nel rigatino con indivia gratin (Grilled Tomino cheese wrapped in tuscan bacon served with endive gratin)

Tomino del boscaiolo cheese is a mild cheese with a thin rind that comes in not-so-small ovals. Rigatino is a type of very thinly sliced Tuscan bacon. Wrap each cheese in two slices of thin bacon.

Add endive leaves on a pan, sprinkle with finely diced rosemary and sage, olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast all in oven until cheese is melted, but is not browned. Serve hot. Make sure someone at the table knows CPR.

3. fiori di zucca fritti e salvia fritta (Fried zucchini flowers and fried sage)

Make a thin batter with flour, generous amounts of salt and ice cold water, cold beer or cold sparking water. Francesca prefers to not use eggs in her batter. Heat a good olive oil in a thick bottomed pan. The big trick with this recipe is to not wash the flowers. Some pull out the stamen. Run each of the flowers and leaves through the batter and brown in the olive oil. Drain on paper towel briefly before serving. I’ve been trying to make these for years…now I know how.

First course: 

crespelle alla fiorentina con ricotta e spinaci, al pomodoro (Florentine crespelle pasta with ricotta cheese and spinach filling and tomato sauce)

This dish is a very Florentine dish and Catherine Di Medici’s favorite. Crepes originated in Italy before Catherine di Medici brought them to France.

Crepes: mix together 250 g flour, 400 g milk, 2 eggs and salt. Cook on a very medium hot pan. Grease with olive oil between crepes.

Filling: Boil spinach in salted water then cool and drain. Chop fine, squeezing to remove all water. Mix with ricotta and 1 egg, along with three spoonfuls of parmesan.

Béchamel: melt 100 g butter and add 100 g flour and cook until flour “toasts”. Warm 1 litre of milk. When flour is toasted, whisk in hot milk. Whisk continuously until sauce reaches ideal texture. Add grated nutmeg.

Red sauce: influse hot oil with garlic, then remove garlic. Add tomato sauce (the stuff in jars – they sell it here!) and a large piece of basil. Remove garlic and basil before using.

Assembly: roll filling into each crepe and place in pan. Between layers of the rolled crepes add a layer of béchamel, parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. Add one more layer of crepes, then add more béchamel, parmesan and tomato sauce. Bake in oven until crepes start to brown.

Main course: 

Arrosto di tacchino ripieno di carciofi e pancetta (Roasted turkey with artichokes and bacon filling)

Obtain slices of raw turkey breast. Lay on parchment paper and pound with a meat mallet until they are all 1 cm thick.

Cover the meat with raw bacon. Add a layer of fresh boiled or frozen artichokes. Make sure they are well drained. Salt and paper.

Roll this up (roulade style) very tightly, ensuring that filling doesn’t come out.

Tie the roll of meat in all four directions with food-safe twine. Wrap in parchment and refrigerate to set.

To cook: brown all of the turkey in olive oil in a large pan, in the parchment paper. Have a large sprig of rosemary in the oil, but make sure it doesn’t burn. Take off the parchment and take out the rosemary, put roulade back in the pan.  Add one small glass of white table wine, let it evaporate, then lower the heat, cover the pan and let meat cook until finished.. Keep adding water so pan doesn’t dry.

After sitting for fifteen minutes, take off twine, slice and serve.

Side dish:

insalata verde o mista (green salad)

Dessert: 

Bavarese alle fragole (Strawberry with Bavarian cream)

The chefs, Francesa and Michelle, joined us to taste the feast, told us how they met when Michelle came to Italy to teach English and just never left. This would become a common theme among our various hosts and tour guides. Note to self: if you move to Italy temporarily, you move to Italy forever.

We were too full for dessert, and a broken fridge meant the cream from the Strawberries and Bavarian Cream would not set properly so it was suggested that we leave it in the freezer and then just let it defrost before eating it. Stupid fridge. (A side effect of the fridge being broken was a lack of access to ice cold water to fend of the 39 degree temperatures, until we realized we could freeze the water bottles overnight and then drink them as they thawed.)

After dinner we went for a “short” half hour walk that turned into 2 hours of strolling around florence. We encountered a live concert band in the Piazza Della Signoria that sounded nothing like our kids’ high school bands. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio and got to see all of the little jewel box stores closed up for the night.

At one point, while walking along a very narrow street, we were trapped from behind and forced to listen to “girls just want to have fun” which was being belted out by a group of 20-something English or Australian girls. In addition to the accents, they were all singing in and out of an odd minor key and sounded like they were having anything but fun. Luckily we were able to turn off into another direction to avoid further torture.

We circled back over the next bridge over where we had a beautiful view of the Ponte Vecchio at night. Heading back, we did a bit more meandering and possibly took a wrong turn or two, at which point we resorted to google maps and a patron at a nearby cafe to point us in the direction of home. Which, I would remind you, is within a block of the Duomo, a Florence landmark that is impossible to miss. The ability to lose yourself wandering aimlessly through the ancient streets of Florence is one of its many charms. To pass the time, we took some selfies.