Vin Santo & Cantucci after dinner?

One of the traditional things to do, especially in Tuscany and Umbria, is to finish an evening meal with Vin Santo and cantucci. Many people like to dip their biscuits into the wine. Here's a recipe for the biscotti, named cantucci....

Ingredients: 2 cups of SR flour
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
3 eggs
1 tspn vanilla
1/4 cup whole almonds (not blanched)
Set oven to 170 degrees C
Method: Combine dry ingredients in bowl
To the eggs , add vanilla, lightly beat and add to centre of flour mixture
Mix thoroughly
Knead with hands in bowl, then onto floured marble surface for a further short kneed
Set aside for 10 minutes
Flatten dough to approx 1 cm thick
Turn dough onto itself a few times and kneed briefly.
Divide into 3 equal pieces and form 3 cylinders or rolls approx 30cm long
Place onto long tray lined with non-stick baking paper, and put in oven for 30 minutes
Remove from the oven. After a few minutes slice carefully, on the diagonal, approx 1 cm wide.
Return to oven . Stand them upright (or turn once). Cook 15 minutes
Buon appetito !

Torta di Pomodoro / Tomato tart

Due to popular demand... as they say!

This is simple, very popular (when ever I make it, people always ask for the recipe!), and tasty. You really do need to make your own pastry (easy!) though.
I find it best if you make this tart the day before , and serve at room temperature (although also OK straight out of the oven). Great for a relaxed lunch in summer with friends and a glass or two of Chianti Classico, out on the deck with overhanging grape vines. Or outside a villa in Tuscany, overlooking the rolling hills.

Pastry:

• 2 cups plain flour, 125 gms unsalted butter. Mix in a whizzer until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, while keeping the whizzer whizzing. It's ready when it all clumps together. Tip out onto glad wrap, push together into a flat pat, cover completely with the plastic wrap, and leave it in the frig for about an hour.

The Filling:

• Cut about 8 onions (the red ones are best), finely sliced. Add to a large saucepan, with good extra virgin olive oil (about a cup), 2 or 3 cloves garlic finely cut, and cook slowly until the onions caramelise. This might take 3/4 hour. Stir a few times. Maybe add a tablespoon of dark brown sugar, and stir till amalgamated. Let this mixture cool.
• In another saucepan, add 1 or 2 cans of peeled tomatoes and a bottle of Italian tomato sugo. Mix and heat,. Maybe add a spoonful of tomato paste if it looks too runny. Cool.
• Roll out the pastry and place over a 30cm serrated edged, flan case (with removable bottom). Add the caramelised onions, and spread evenly over the pastry base. Add the tomato mixture. Pick a few sprigs of rosemary from the veggie garden, and decorate the tart with rosemary, black olives (halved, with pips removed) and anchovies.

Cook in preheated oven about 200C, atound 40 minutes, or until the pastry looks tan. Yum!

San Giovanni Firenze

June 24 is a special day for Florentines: a holiday for their patron Saint, San Giovanni. In the afternoon, huge numbers dressed in Medieval outfits, meet at Palagio di parte Guelfa for the corteo, The Parade of the Florentine Republic. Led by 2 policemen on horseback , this year at the first corner (5 meters after the start!) one of the horses pooed, so for the entire Corteo it was necessary to break ranks slightly to avoid the large yellow mound - causing some amusement and toilet humour (!) so to speak. Don't miss this marvellous event.... remember June 24, every year. It's worth a visit to Florence just for this alone. Part 2 tomorrow!

Arezzo & Giostra del Saracino 2

Central to the tornament is the "enemy", the effigy of the Saracen, attended by 2 men dressed in arabian costume. This effigy is erected so that it spins around when a certain spot (on its shield) is hit by the jouster on horseback. This warrior has to be quick and accurate, as the effigy spins around with strength from 3 hard balls attached to a rope: this can bludgeon the jouster. The jousting is spectacular. Each quarter of the city is represented by 2 horsemen/warriors/jousters, and points are awarded by the judges in the red box. Competition is fierce.

Arezzo & Giostra del Saracino

Going back to Medieval times, the Giostra del Saracino (Joust of the Saracen) originally provided military training exercises wherein enemy confrontation was simulated. Now, in Arezzo, it's a great event, held twice each year, involving most of the population of this georgeous Tuscan city.

As we wandered around the town in the afternoon we found skilled flag throwers practising their craft in Piazza Grande in preparation for the evening tornament. Despite the light rain, temporary stalls were selling huge stocks of multicoloured wares for the loyal followers - and a few travellers. Depending on which quarter of the city you support, you can buy flags, scarves, or drums in blue and yellow, green and white, scarlet and navy, or maroon and orange.

Around 8.30pm the corteo storico entered the cordoned off Piazza: a long parade of real and acting VIPs, musicians, flag throwers and finally, amid shouts, squeals and drum rolls , the marching warriors. All brilliantly dressed in traditional Medieval costume.

Pienza, Tuscany, Itay

The delightful small Renaissance hill town of Pienza is around 50km from Siena in Southern Tuscany. It's main piazza is Piazza Pio - simple and elegant. And its most famous food is pecorino cheese: we tasted several of their special cheeses at a shop on Corso Rossellino, and bought a Caprino, and a Pecorino Stagionatao to take home to add to our antipasti platter with drinks . Yum!

Porto Venere

On the way to the Cinque Terre, we stopped off at PortoVenere. A fisherman fixing the holes in his nets.