PAPPA AL POMODORO !

The tomato soup is a poor dish of peasant origin. 

It is excellent in winter because it is a hot soup and in summer because you can eat it at room temperature too. 

The main ingredients are: Tuscan bread,

peeled tomatoes, garlic, basil and oil.

INGREDIENTS (four people) 

- 300 gr of bread 

-1 l of soup

-10 leaves of basil

-pepper 

-olive oil 

-garlic

-1 spoon of sugar

-salt 

-800 gr of tomatoes 

PREPARATION 

Cut the Tuscan bread in thin slices (1) than toast them in the oven at 200 degrees for some minutes.

Remove the bread from the oven and rub them with the garlic(2).

Boil the tomatoes in boiling water for around 1 minute (3). 

Then take the tomatoes out and peel them with a knife (4) .

Sieve the tomatoes and place them in a container. 

Place the bread in a pan (5) 

So pour the tomato sauce on the bread  (7) and the vegetable broth too (8).

Add some salt, pepper, and some sugar (9) and cook at low heat for 40-50 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated. 

Stir well for trasforming the bread into a "pappa" (10) . 

Add the basil leaves (11). Pour the pappa al pomodoro in a bowl (12) and add some extra virgin olive oil too. 

THE DISH IS READY!!! :) 

                                        Simona Cilino. 

Panzanella

 PANZANELLA

Panzanella is the name of a Tuscan summer dish; a poor dish that was eaten by the farmers, who were working in the fields all day long.The main ingredients are: stale bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, basil, salt, pepper, vinegar and oil.

Ingredients

- 15  leaves of basil
- salt
- black pepper

- 400g of bread

-1 cucumber

- 3 spoon of white wine vinegar

- 1 big red onion

- extra virgin olive oil

-2 tomatoes

To prepare Panzanella you should peel and cut the red onions into thin slices(1) and put them soaking in a small bowl with some water and 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar (2), for at least two hours. Peel a cucumber too (3).




Cut it into thin washers and put them aside (4). At the end wash and cut the tomatoes into small pieces (5). Take four slices of Tuscan bread and remove the crust with a knife (6).




Wet them in a solution of water and vinegar without drenching it too much (7). When the bread is soft, squeeze it and break it with the hands and put it in a salad bowl (8). Drain the red onions (9).




Mix them with the bread (10) add tomatoes (11)  and cucumbers (12), 




and some hand chopped basil (13). Mix gently all the ingredients with a spoon.  Flavor the panzanella with some extravergin olive oil, and some salt and pepper too (14). Let the Panzanella rest in the fridge for at least one hour. The Panzanella is ready! (15)

                                                                                        Beatrice Landi

Pie with artichokes (ITA. Tortino ai carciofi)

The reason why I chose this recipe is that my grandmother cooked it to me and my cousin one day, a couple of years ago, and we liked it so much that we wanted to try to cook it ourselves and after a few miserable attempts (in our defence, I can say we were young at the time) we were able to cook a good pie with artichokes, that then everyone loved! I like it because it's easy to cook, cheap and tasty.

With this dosage, it serves 8 people.

Ingredients:

• artichokes, trimmed 400g
• salted anchovies, 4
• onions, 2
• eggs, 3
• smoked cheese, 100
• Parmesan cheese
• salt
• pepper
• parsley, chopped 1 spoon
• whole milk, 200ml
• extra virgin olive oil, 4 spoons
• garlic, 2 cloves
• white wine, 1 glass
• brisé dough, 350g

 

First of all, you have to prepare the dough, then put it in the refrigerator for an hour. If you do not know how to make the dough, you can just go and buy it in a supermarket.
Take the artichokes then cut them in two halves and then in two halves again (1). Peel 2 cloves of garlic, chop them finely and put them to fry in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, then add the artichokes that you will stir-fry for a few minutes (2), then add salt and pepper and add a ladle of hot water (3) .
Now let slowly evaporate.

Desalt the anchovies under running water and remove their central bone. Put them in another pan with the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil and allow to melt (4), after which add the onions, peeled and cut into thin slices (5).

Saute' the onions slowly, without letting them brown, then add the artichokes (6).

Take the mixture and mix all with a glass of white wine (7).  If it's necessary add some salt, then turn off the heat and add the chopped parsley. Mix it well (8). Take the dough and roll it out with the help of the rolling pin (9).


We are almost ready! :)
Grease a baking tray with butter and line it with the rolled out dough (10) cut a disk of baking paper and place it over the pasta (11), cover it with some dried beans and then bake at 190° for about 15 minutes (12).


Meanwhile, chop the provolone cheese (13) and beat the eggs with the milk (14) and the grated Parmesan cheese, then add salt (15).

 

After 15 minutes, remove the quiche from the oven, remove the paper with the dried beans and put the pan in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, so that the bottom of the dough becomes golden. After that, place the provolone cubes on the bottom  (16), add the mixture of artichokes and onions (17) and then pour the milk mixture, eggs and cheese (18).
Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 190 °
You will find when it's ready because the surface becomes golden.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving it.






"I also love this
plate beacuse
it's a finger food!"







Review by:
Matria Chiara Fanteria

"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