THE MACCHERONE FESTIVAL

This festival takes place in my village, Buti, in the two last weeks of July. This festival is situated in the medieval castle of Buti. During this festival you can have dinner there and try some typical products. The highlight of the festival is "maccheroni", a typical type of pasta with meat sauce. After dinner there are a lot of people that drink a lot and sing all the time. Until midnight there are special guests like DJs, singers and dancers. This festival is organized to raise money for the village and in January they use this money for the most important event of the year, a horse race called "PALIO".

Conchiglie alla vodka

VODKA SHELLS

It serves 6 people:

• 3 spoons of extra vergin olive oil
• 6 rip tomatoes peeled and chopped
• 1 small onion thinly sliced
• 1 clove of garlic thinly sliced
• 1 stick of celery thinly sliced
• 1 carot thinly sliced
• a pinch of red chili powder
• salt
• 120 ml of Vodka
• 120 ml of thick cooking cream
• 600 gr of pasta shells
• 45 gr of grated chees

Heat the oil over low heat in a pan with high sides. Add chopped fresh tomatoes, the onion, the garlic, the carrot and the chili and cook everything for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated. Add salt at your leisure.

Pour the Vodka and the cream in the sauce and continue cooking, always stirring, until the sauce will become thick, or else for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring abundant salted water to a boil in a soucepan and cook the pasta shells. Drain well and transfer them to the pan with the sauce.

Mix gently for dressing the pasta well, then put it in a preheated pot, sprinkle with a bit of grated cheese and serve.

Jacopo Orsini

Agnolini alla Parmigiana

Agnolini alla parmigiana!

I chose this dish because I come from Albany and when I came here for the first time this was the first dish I ate and it impressed me! It’s very tasty and light, that’s why I like it!

Ingredients for 4 people :

For the dough:

400 g of white flour                                                                                          

4 eggs

For the filling:

400 g of beef

50 g of grated Parmesan cheese

50 g of breadcrumbs

50 g butter

50 g of bacon

2 eggs

1/2 l of broth

1 glass of red wine

1 onion

1 carrot

1 stalk of celery

olive oil

garlic

tomato sauce

cloves

Preparation and cooking:

1 hour (plus the time for the dough).

The goodness of this recipe is all in the stew that once the housewives stewed for three whole days in a special clay dish placed in a corner of the kitchen. The cooks of today do not ask the impossible, but simply a good stew.

Put the meat, after you have garnished it with bacon and garlic to brown for ten minutes in a pan with butter and chopped onion. When it has taken a beautiful color, moisten it with the wine, allowing it to quickly evaporate and then cover with the warmed broth. Put the lid over the pan and start cooking it slowly (7-8 hours). When the broth is reduced to a quite thick sauce, remove the meat (which can be served as an accompanying dish). Stir in some tomato sauce, breadcrumbs and grated cheese stirring at a good pace to get a homogeneous mixture. The final consistency should be such that the preparation for the filling can be worked easily with your fingers. Adjust the density of the broth by increasing the quantity of breadcrumbs and cheese if necessary.

Knead the flour and eggs as usual and roll the dough to obtain a thin layer. Place on it the balls of filling. Cut with a special notched stencil the circles of dough around each mound of filling. Close them on themselves by squeezing the dough around the individual balls of filling. As agnolini are ready, order them on a floured surface and then cover them with a slightly moistened cloth.

Boil the agnolini in plenty of beef broth and serve with grated Parmesan. Well-drained, this type of stuffed pasta also lends itself to be served dry.

A variation of this recipe comes from the tradition of Piacenza. The suggestion is to add to the filling of the meat sauce, finely chopped, two whole eggs and a couple of handfuls of grated parmesan then let the dough rest for at least ten hours.  Agnolini, always cooked in beef broth, can also be served dry seasoned with the filling ingredients, mushrooms or meat sauce, for example.

Recommended wine

For a dish like this, all based on the taste of the stew, you need a full-bodied red wine like a great Barbera Colli Bolognesi Doc.

 

Balla Algerta.

Pasta with aubergines

Ingredients for 6 people:

- 2 aubergines

- 3 cloves of garlic

- basil

- hot chili pepper

- oil to fry

- olive oil

- peeled tomatoes (1 box)

- tomato puree (1 bottle)

- cream (1 box)

- 1 stock cube

- 500 grams of pasta

- salt

Peel the aubergines and slice them. Place them on a chopping board, cover them with salt and let them rest for at least 30 minutes .

Wash them very well and fry in a frying pan with the oil to fry. After that put the fried aubergines on an absorbing paper. Chop them with a mincing-knife. Chop the cloves of garlic as well.

Put the chopped cloves of garlic, the basil and oil in a pot. When it starts frying, add the chopped aubergines, the peeled tomatoes and the tomato puree, and the hot chili pepper as much as you want. Add the stock cube.

Boil for at least 20 minutes. Add salt. At the end add the cream.

While it is boiling, put plenty of water in an other pot, add salt, and when it starts boiling add the pasta.

When the pasta is ready, drain it, add the aubergine sauce and enjoy your meal !

Giulia Cortopassi

Spaghetti allo Scoglio

SPAGHETTI AND SEAFOOD

To prepare the Spaghetti with seafood we need many ingredients and different kinds of shellfish. This dish is rich in seafood and it's really tasty. 

4 servings

Ingredients:

250grams squid cut into pieces

350grams prawns

300grams octopus, cut into cubes

300grams mussels

250grams cherry tomatoes

300grams clams

1 glass white wine

extra virgin olive oil

hot pepper

chopped parsley

garlic

Take a large frying pan and stir fry the garlic and the hot chili pepper with some olive oil on a slow fire.

Drain the clams you have left ​​at least one night in a bowl filled with water and salt to remove any grit, and add them into the pan. 

Cook for a few minutes adding a glass of white wine.

As soon as the clams are open, add the mussels and cook for a few minutes before adding the squid and prawns too.

Keep over a low heat and stir occasionally. In a pressure cooker filled with water, boil the octopus for 40 minutes and then cut it into small cubes and add it to the rest of the fish in the pan.

Now cut the tomatoes in half and place them into the pan and mix everything thoroughly in order to cook everything well.

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti and when they are cooked, drain them and add them to the prepared fish, sauté for a few seconds and sprinkle with some parsley. Serve hot. 

Samanta Recce

My favorite dish

Pasta carbonara

Ingredients for 4 people:

-350 gr. of pasta

-150 gr. of bacon 

-100 gr. of cheese

-4 egg yolks + 1 whole

My favorite dish is pasta carbonara. I like it because is the best thing that my mother knows how to cook. For the preparation you must use eggs, cheese and diced bacon. The eggs are beaten in a bowl. Then the eggs are mixed with the cheese. After, the bacon is cooked in a pan, until it becomes crispy. When the bacon is ready, it is put in the bowl with eggs and cheese and it is mixed together. When the mixture is ready, you can add it to the pasta. The preparation takes just 15 minutes. 

In my opinion it is the best dish because it is really good and easy to cook. 

Bucatini alla carbonara

Bucatini alla carbonara is one of my favourite first courses and it's also an Italian speciality. It doesn't take a lot of preparation. The ingredients for five people are:
- Half a kilo of pasta Bucatini (type of pasta that is the same as spaghetti, but a little thicker)
- Five eggs
- grated Parmesan cheese
- Half a cup of milk
- Two thick slices of guanciale (the cheek of the pork)
- Salt and pepper
- Oil
Preparation:
Put two litres of water in a pot and let it boil. In the meantime, cut the guanciale in small pieces and let it fry with the oil in a pan. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the cheese, the milk, a pinch of salt and pepper. When the water boils, "throw" the pasta in and let it boil for about 10 minutes. When the pasta is ready, drain it and pour it in the pan with the guanciale and then add the mixture with the eggs. Stir with a wooden fork for a few seconds. You can add some more fresh cheese before serving it. Enjoy your meal!

La Sorgente

                                                                   LA SORGENTE!

My favorite restaurant is La Sorgente! It’s located near my village in Santo Pietro. 

It’s a beautiful and big restaurant; there are two swimming pools, a big tennis court and there is a big park when the kids can play.

It's known for its delicious food and for its size. 

My favorite dishes are: Spaghetti alle Vongole (pasta with clams) and Pizza.

I like this restaurant because it is quiet, amazing and after you have eaten you can play freely in the tennis court or you can have fun in the wonderful swimming pool.

La Sorgente is known because prices are affordable and the quality is excellent.

A lot of people choose La Sorgente to spend ‘’New Year's Eve’’ there because there are some little houses when you can stay same days; in fact every year a lot of tourists go there to enjoy their holidays. By Algerta!

La Grotta in Buti

My favourite restaurant is "Grotta" in Buti.

It's situated near the centre.

The place is very beautiful and the dining area is really confortable and relaxing.

The waiters are very helpful and always friendly.

They have a fantastic chef; friendly,funny and charming.

The food is very good in particular "Spaghetti with seafood " and the wine in my opinion is the best of the village!!

I have recommended La Grotta to many people over the years!

" DA REMO "
My favourite restaurant is "Da Remo", which is located in Monsummano Terme. I went there for my first time with my dad. The restaurant is very nice and cozy, it has some big rooms inside and a terrace outside to have dinner outdoors in the summer. It is very expensive but it is very beutiful for a ceremony or something special. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the waiters are very kind. The kitchen offers typical tuscans dishes and if you want you can eat pizza too, because it is also a pizzeria. My favourite dish is "penne with scampi ", pasta with a kind of seafood called prawn in English, which is very good. It's delicious! 

IL VECCHIO MOLINO

IL VECCHIO MOLINO 

My favourite restaurant in Buti (my village), is "Il vecchio Molino" . It is very nice because it's situated along a small river, and it is surrounded by nature. I like this restaurant because I've always gone there since I was a baby, and everytime I go there, I feel like at home! The atmosfere is very welcoming with its warm colors. This restaurant is famous for its various and abundant appetizers. It's a typical Tuscan restaurant. In the week-end you can eat also pizza:) You can taste the special homemade desserts too. The price for a full meal is aroud 30,00 euro per person. It is beautiful too, because in summer you can eat outside.
My favourite dishes are: antipasti (appetizers) and pasta with scampi (prawns).

TRATTORIA DA PACCÌ

This is a typical restaurant of Buti, my village.The dining area is very nice and comfortable, the waiters are very friendly, polite and helpful.This restaurant is situated near the most important square of the village.The kitchen in my opinion is the best with typical products of Tuscany, the best dish in this place is called "stringozzi alla cinta senese"(homemade pasta with pork meat sauce). I usually go to this restaurant twice a month and in my opinion it is the most popular restaurant in my village, prices are normal for example a full menu costs about 30€.This restaurant is known all over Tuscany. The dining area is in old style with typical chairs and tables, on the wall there are paintings with some faces of the people who live in the village. In this restaurant there are 3 chefs and 2 waiters, the place isn't very big but it is very nice.

"La Felicitá" chinese restaurant in Pontedera

This is a typical Chinese food restaurant where you can find the best Chinese dishes!
The staff is very nice, kind and helpful. The dining area is very big and it's decorated with paintings about China and also with pictures engraved in the wood. It's nicely laid out, with a lot of tables with Chinese tablecloths. The atmosphere is so relaxing. The food is very good and you can choose between a lot of types of food: vegetables, fish, meat, pasta and rice and so on.
But I don't have to tell you everything, in my opinion you should go and try it because the food is good and prices are cheap. I have recommended it to everybody and also to my friend Asia, in the picture below you can see her first Chinese dinner!
Anyway, try Chinese food and enjoy your meal :)

Giulia Cortopassi