Fritto misto

One of the specialties of my mother is the Fritto misto, literally "fried mixture". She is really good in that and she has unique capabilities in doing a perfect dish. I know what you think, fried food is junk food, is not good for your health, and is not a “gourmet” specialty. However try a real fritto misto Tuscan way and you will change your mind. In Florence there used to be several deep frying shops (friggitorie) that served everything from antipasti (coccoli), to sweets (doughnuts, called Bomboloni). There is one left in via S.Antonino, but last time I went was run by Chinese serving spring rolls! I don’t have anything against them, but for sure is no longer the “Tuscan” version. There are several bakeries (pasticceria) that usually serve doughnuts after 4 p.m. The best one is in Piazza Viesseux, and we used to go there on Sundays, usually to sweeten the defeat of Fiorentina. For a good deep fried mix I have heard that “Trattoria I ricchi “ in Cercina is the best: http://www.iricchi.it/English/index.html.
However if you are far away from Florence and you want to try a fritto misto here is how to prepare it. In this post I will give you an overview of the different deep frying techniques and what you can prepare using those. If you want to try other things, just send me a comment and I will give you suggestions on how to fry it!
What is in a fritto misto:
Meat
Chicken, usually with bones and cut into pieces around 4-5 cm long. I would leave out the wings. Wash the meat, but do not marinate it!
Rabbit, usually with bones and cut into pieces around 4-5 cm long. Wash the meat, but do not marinate it!
Brain. Yes it is a Tuscan specialty. However I dislike the idea and would not know how to prepare it. If you wish to try I will ask my mum that used to prepare it.
Vegetables:
Potatoes. Be careful here on what variety you choose. I hardly find good potatoes to deep fry nowadays. I don’t know which the best is, just try out different varieties! I cut them in sticks 0.5 cm thick and leave in water to remove the excess starch.
Zucchini. Cut in slices around 0.5 mm thick
Artichokes. Remove the external leaves and once you have the “heart” remove the top part (usually purple color). Cut in quarters and remove the “hairs” that you find inside. Cut the quarters in smaller segments/slices (0.5 cm thick) and leave them in water with some lemon to avoid their blackening.
Mushrooms: must be Porcini (boletus). Fresh and hard. Cut into 1-2 cm dices.

Bread:
Yes I know what you mean, Tuscan are worse than Scottish when it comes to deep frying. Actually it is true even if we would never think of frying a Mars bar!

I do not have a deep fryer so I use an iron pan. The rule would ask to use Extra Virgin Olive oil, however that you are careful not to overheat the oil, peanuts oil is perfect. The pan must be full of oil, so that whatever you fry will be soaked. If you are planning a fritto misto, fry the potatoes first and then all the rest, leaving the meat at last.
For the potatoes, dry with a kitchen towel and then pour in the hot oil. Let them fry at medium heat (you have to al least hear the frying!)covered for a few minutes until soft, then rise the heat and remove the cover for the last touch. Remove when they have formed the hard shell.
For the zucchini you need to prepare the batter. Beat an egg with flour and salt and add some water or milk to create a creamy mixture. Adjust the texture with flour and water so that you have a thick batter that flows and sticks to the zucchini. Pour the zucchini in the batter, make sure that they are fully covered and then pour them in oil and fry until golden turning them a couple of times. Add salt and serve hot. You have some batter left. Pour little spoons in the hot oil and create small “frittelle”
For the artichokes and meat. Make sure that the ingredients are wet and then pour in flour so that they are well covered. Beat an egg with some salt and slightly cover the floured ingredient with that before pouring in the hot oil. Make sure that the egg just covers the meat, etc. To do so I usually pour the ingredients in the eggs and then take them out with a fork and with a shake I try to drain out the excess before pouring in the hot oil. You have some egg left? Take slices of bread; pass them in the egg and then fry. It is delicious!
Mushrooms: Slightly wash the mushrooms and then cover with “yellow flour”, i.e. polenta or corn flour before frying them.
Add salt to your taste and serve with lemon. Do you want to do it Tuscan style? Please refrain from using any sauce. I allow you only some lemon juice!!!!

Strawberry cake of aunt Nidalia

This is one of the best cakes I have ever made, and for sure the easiest to make. The only drawback is that you need fresh strawberries so it can be done only in the springtime. My aunt (so to say because is the acquired aunt of my mum, however is more than that to me) taught me the recipe and I must say that I have successfully prepared it in several occasions. I have spread the recipe around the world and more and more people are enjoying it! It is simple, if you follow my suggestions it comes out wonderful looking with the minimum effort, I have never found someone that did not like it!
I usually prepare it in a removable bottom cake pan around 25 cm in diameter. For such a cake you need 500g of strawberries, sugar, 1 lemon, 500 g of sponge finger biscuits, 250g of whipped cream.
Prepare the whipped cream.
Clean the strawberries and put them in a food processor with the juice of 1 lemon and 2 table spoons of sugar. You might want to keep some strawberries for decoration. Mix them until you have a liquid cream. Adjust sugar to your taste but be careful as you might have added some sugar to the cream and the biscuits are covered in sugar as well.
Cover the cake pan with butter to avoid the cake to stick to the walls. Then pour the “strawberry cream” in a large bowl and soak the biscuits in that liquid and create a layer in the pan. In order to enhance the decorative effect I usually cut a few biscuits at the height of the pan and then create a circle (wall) to start with. However when you have finished a layer, pour a generous layer of whipped cream and then start with another layer until the cake pan is full. Then if you have some whipped cream and strawberry cream left, mix them and pour on the top. Allow the cake to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours minimum and then enjoy.
Variations: Between the layers of biscuits you can put some fresh strawberries. Probably it is good with other fruits as well; however I have never tried it!

Fagioli all’uccelletto

This dish literarily means beans with small birds, as in the whole of Italy some people (don’t look at me) eat sparrows and I think that the name comes from the fact that sparrows are usually cooked with fresh sage. So I think that the meaning of the name of this recipe is Beans cooked at sparrow way! However, don’t worry as this can be a fully vegetarian dish, or you can add some sausages. This clearly reminds to the old times when meat was only for wealthy classes and the peasants had to rely on beans for a protein in-take. Nowadays some bean variety cost more than beef filet. I am talking about the Fagiolo solfino di Sorana, smaller than cannellini, and really tasteful!
Sausage version:
Take a Tuscan Sausage and fry in some olive oil until fairly cooked. Add to the oil some garlic, sage (fresh!!!), tomato sauce (chopped tomatoes or peeled tomatoes in a can are perfect) and cooked cannellini beans. Cook for a few minutes and serve hot!
Vegetarian version:
Fry some garlic with fresh sage and when brown add some tomato sauce and the cooked cannellini beans. Cook for a few minutes and serve hot!

Minestrone e Ribollita

I will now give you a recipe for a vegetable soup, minestrone (if you were to apply a literally translation that would be the “big soup”) and will explain to you how to transform it into a Ribollita (again literally translated into “re-boiled soup”). In fact what is the king dish of Tuscan cooking, the ribollita, is just the leftovers of the minestrone boiled once again with some Tuscan bread! I learned how to make good minestrone from my grandfather. I have seen him preparing just minestrone and pesto, but both of them were outstanding. His family was from the Chianti region, they were peasant, and when his father died he was just 7 years old. This changed his life dramatically as he was separated from his mother, and sent to live with his uncle, where he worked as a peasant/gardener. And ribollita was his meal (there were no breakfast-lunch-dinner-snacks at the time). He would take the leftovers of the vegetable soup, add a lot of bread to fill the stomach, and bring it to the fields to eat during the break. So each time you order a ribollita in a nice restaurant, think of what it represented to the Tuscan peasants.
Each time he prepared Minestrone, a discussion arose between my grandparents. My grandma is more practical, and as soon as the ready-made deep frozen version was available, she switched to that. But my grandfather did not accept that and he wanted to prepare the minestrone his way, transforming the kitchen into a mess! I myself have never used the deep frozen version. If I want a minestrone, I’d better have the proper one.
So to prepare the minestrone you need:
Onions, leeks, carrots, celery, parsley, courgettes (or zucchini), black cabbage, Swiss chard, Spinaches, peas, potatoes, cooked cannellini beans. I underlined the compulsory ingredients. Other ingredients could be green cabbage and turnips, even if I would leave out peppers, cauliflower, sprouts, aubergines, chickpeas. If you are unsure whenever to use an ingredient for a minestrone, just write me and I will judge it.
Well the next step is to cook the minestrone. Start with the “soffritto”, which is a standard for any Italian dish. This consists on finely chopped (by hand!) onions, celery, carrots and parsley. For the minestrone however, I do not finely chop the vegetable, but just make stripes or dices of around 0.5-1 cm width. Cook the soffritto in a big casserole with some olive oil and salt, covered and at gentle heat for around 10 min, until the vegetables are soft.
In the meanwhile prepare a big bowl of water (or use the sink if clean), and wash there the cut cabbage, curd, spinaches and leak. Slightly drain the vegetables and add to the casserole together with the peas (if you are using the fresh or the frozen ones). Cover and keep cooking at gentle heat. The water inside the vegetable and that from the washing should be enough to keep the soup moist, if you keep the casserole closed. In case you see it tends to dry, just add half a glass of water. When cooked add the potatoes, zucchini and beans. Again adjust the water as explained above. Once they are cooked your minestrone is ready. As I do not add any water, the minestrone results in a thick soup. I like it that way, with just a C of olive oil on top. People use also the chilly oil, which is olive oil where you leave some chili peppers.
From a minestrone you can prepare other things:
1.Ribollita: Add water and dry bread and gently cook again until all the bread is soft and amalgamates with the soup. Again a C of olive oil on top
2.Vegetable cream: Mix the minestrone in a food processor and you will have a yummy vegetable soup. If you like you can add some water and cook some pasta in it (short pasta, ideally ditali).
3.Minestrone with pasta: add water to the minestrone and cook some pasta in it.