Today Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup (Pappa col Pomodoro)!

Here’s for you a typical classic Tuscan dish “tomato bread soup”. Please never propose it in the wintertime, the freshness of ripe tomatoes and scented basil are essential for the successful outcome of this recipe ideal for hot summer days. Ingredients for 4 people: 250 g Tuscan -style white stale bread 600 g ripe tomatoes 4 cloves of garlic a stalk of fresh sage a nice bunch of basil extra virgin olive oil salt pepper 1 onion 1 carrot celery q.b. parsley q.b. water q.b. First of all prepare the tomato sauce. In a large pan sauté the 2 cloves of garlic gently in 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Join onion, carrot, celery and parsley previously cut. As soon as the lot turns golden, toss the peeled tomatoes and a nice bunch of basil, all roughly chopped. Bring to the boil for a moment then sieve the lot, add the water and boil in again with salt and pepper. Cut the bread with the 2 other cloves of garlic, put it in a clay pan on the flame with abundant extra virgin olive oil, the sage, a little pepper, salt and water. Try to chop the bread a little more meanwhile the water is boiling. Add water as soon as it dries up and go up until the bread is completely moistened and chopped. Join now 4 ½ cups or more of tomato sauce (the soup should be brightly red-coloured and the sauce abundant). Leave to simmer slowly for 1 hour or more until the bread is mashed in the sauce. The soup should prove fairly thick so add more water only if necessary.

Pasta and peas, a simple and tasty Italian dish.

Here for you a photo of my organic garden's peas, they are finally ready to be collected. I want to share with you my personal simple recipe. It’s a quick and easy dish for all the family.

Penne and fresh peas

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cups fresh shelled peas
2 slices of prosciutto, dinced
5 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
4oo gr penne pasta


In a large saucepan, sauté the dinced prosciutto and onion in the olive oil over low heat, until the onions are translucent, it takes about 10 minutes.
Then, join peas and just 1 minute later the vegetable broth with salt. Continue cooking over medium heat till peas are tender.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente; drain and add the peas mixture. stir in and….enjoy a simple tasty Mediterranean diet dish.

Sage, beautiful in the garden, good on the plate

Walking in my garden I admire the borders of sage and I pick a few leaves. Immediately an intense aroma is released into the air. Well, they will be perfect for seasoning ricotta and spinach Tuscan ravioli (gnudi) that I made this morning.

Ingredients:
4 ½ pounds spinach
16 oz ricotta
3 eggs
a little flour
4 oz butter
10 sage leaves
6 spoons of parmesancheese
nutmeg
salt

Wash and boil the spinach with a little water salting lightly. Drain, leave to cool and chop finely.
Put the trhee whole eggs into a bowl and mix them with the ricotta, a pinch of nutmeg and salt.
Add the parmesan cheese and the chopped spinach and blend well. With this mixture make little ovalshaped rissoles and flour them. Boil some lightly salted water and drop in a few the “gnudi” at a time. As soon as theyrise to the surface, take them out of the pan with a perforated spoon and put them on a wide serving dish. Season them with melted butter that had been previously heated to which were added the sage leaves and plenty of parmesan.

Rosemary, the Mediterranean taste in the kitchen.

With its extremely fragrance Rosemary in the kitchen is what it is all about. It makes a wonderful addition to vegetables, fish, roasted meats and to prepare a delicious focaccia. Roasted potatoes also benefit from its use. Here below my personal recipe.

Rosemary roasted potatoes

1 kg potatoes
3 rosemary springs
4 cloves garlic
5 tablespoonfuls extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 180°C. After peeling the potatoes cut them into chunks and put them in cold water for 1 hour. Put the potatoes pieces into a wide rectangular baking tin, together with the roughly chopped garlic cloves, salt, pepper and the fresh rosemary leaves. Drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and bake for nearly 2 hours until they are deep golden brown.
Here it is a simple but extremely tasty side dish.

Saffron: Aphrodisiac and Therapeutic Treatments

Its scientific name is Crocus Sativus Linnaeus while its name "saffron" derives from Arabian "za'faran" which means yellow. The plant is a perennial bulbous of the Iridacee family. The beautiful purple flower gives the three red stigmas in the middle, which once dried according to technical specifications, they are called "saffron". It takes about 150,000 flowers to obtain one kilogram of product.

Considered precious since ancient times, saffron was used in Persia as an aphrodisiac. In Greek mythology, Hermes, the patron god of love, awaken his sexual desire with saffron.

Actually it has been proved effective against impotence and frigidity, stimulates appetite, it is a cardio-tonic and a strong antioxidant. Helps the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Protects against damage caused by free radicals and improves blood flow to the brain and memory. Useful against cough, indigestion, insomnia and reduces menstrual pain. It is also useful in the treatment of light depression. For external use it is used to treat contusions and bruises, burns, bruises and in the preparation of astringent eye drops.

Recent studies testify the effectiveness of this spice for leukemia, breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

It has to be used in small doses because too much can be lethal, causing severe poisoning, abortions and lead to death from internal bleeding.

Saffron, San Gimignano exceptional taste

Together with art, culture, towers, wine, San Gimignano is proud of another antic traditional product: Saffron.

Since ancient times, Saffron has always been considered a symbol of material and spiritual wealth, probably because of its warm color that recalls gold. The clothes of the Egyptian priests, the curtains wrapping mummies, the veils of brides in ancient Rome, the robes of the Assyrians and Babylonians king, wedding dresses of medieval women to that of the Dalai Lama were all dyed using saffron.

In San Gimignano the tradition of its use dates back to medieval times, when the cultivation of this precious flower, crocus, extended throughout the territory surrounding the town. During the flowering, lilac/purple fields struck the traveler eyes along the Via Francigena pilgrimage. Introduced by the first crusaders, saffron found in San Gimignano, ideal conditions for a huge development.

A few years ago some willing producers, among them "Fortezza de 'Cortesi, encouraged by the Region of Tuscany, ARSIA Agricolture Authority and the Municipality, re-started the recovery path of production of this precious spice. After a testing phase, carried out for the first time under international yardsticks, have come to obtaining the Denomination of Origin (PDO). Laboratory tests conducted on the product gave surprising results and gave to The Saffron Dop of San Gimignano the most prestigious category in the world. Cultivated, harvested and processed entirely by hand according to biological criteria, is packed while keeping intact the stigmas to protection from counterfeiting.