The cuisine of the hinterland - Seravezza 9
Inland cuisine and accessible recipes!
The cuisine of the Lucca area was, and has remained, a simple cuisine, but tasty and intriguing. However, precise distinctions must be made. There is, and has always been, a peasant cuisine and there is, as it has always been, a bourgeois cuisine, in the Lucca area as elsewhere.
Maria Anna Bonaparte Baciocchi (1777-1820), known as Elisa, was Princess of Lucca and protagonist of a transformation of the customs and habits of the ancient Republic of Lucca, as well as the client of the last major renovation works of the current Palazzo Ducale building carried out according to the design of the architect Lorenzo Nottolini. Palazzo Ducale was not only the place of political and administrative government of the Principality of Elisa, but with its halls, parties and banquets it was the symbol of a newfound worldliness, of a new form of communication of image and power.
The rich cuisine of the 18th century Lucca bourgeoisie of French origin, is without beans, polenta, pork, and if anything with French nuances: rice pies, game, stuffed macaroni, garmugia (soup of spring vegetables and veal), roast partridges, pheasants or grey partridges, veal fricassee, fruit sorbets. And speaking of Lucca cuisine, one cannot ignore the internal migrations and geographical borders that, normally, do not coincide with the gastronomic ones. Here, in fact, in the cuisine of the Lucca area, the Ligurian-inspired vegetable pies and the “cecina” or, in seafood cuisine, the striking case of cacciucco, originally the pride and joy of Livorno cuisine, but adopted in Viareggio and throughout the Tuscan coast with truly minimal variations, still the subject of disputes among the greatest chefs. The recipe for cacciucco, enthusiastically spread and trumpeted by Lorenzo Viani who discovered it in Livorno during a “cacciuccata” organized in 1936 by Costanzo Ciano, became a must in the trattorias of Viareggio. Another example is the “peposo”. Emblem of the cuisine of the Florentine province, born in Impruneta, it now has the right of citizenship in almost every Tuscan province. There are even restaurants that bear its name; this tasty and popular dish is basically a stew in red wine, enhanced by small handfuls of black peppercorns, hence the name. Above all this goodness stands out the legendary “fiorentina steak” which certainly needs no introduction and the “tagliata” which is the escalope version. Worthy of mention is the “arrosto morto” alla lucchese. The pillar of the cuisine of the Lucchesia is bread, generally “sciocco”, that is, tasteless, without salt. Bread is used to prepare fettunta and a variety of soups and minestrone: pancotto, panzanella, frantoiana, ribollita, pappa al pomodoro, crostini, etc. While the prized eight-row corn from Garfagnana is used to prepare polenta to accompany stewed meat and fish dishes, but also black cabbage farinata also called intruglia or incavolata, a tasty winter dish common throughout the province.
A special mention goes to the fresh pasta and potato gnocchi from Campallorzo; homemade pasta is generally made with water and flour, rather thick and coarse, which goes well with the vigorous and tasty meat and fish sauces; in the most varied forms (tagliatelle, tagliolini, maltagliati, tacconi, pappardelle) it is also found made with chestnut or spelt flour. The “tordelli versiliesi” with a meat filling and seasoned with ragù enjoy a just reputation.
The meat dishes of the Lucchesia are traditionally based on pork (arista and rosticciana), and pork derivatives (sausages, lard, mortadella, soppressate, biroldo (or buristo), much loved by Catarsini), or farmyard animals; mainly rabbits and then chickens, hens and ducks. As for the preparations, they are almost always simple cooking, mainly spit and grill or typically home-made or family-style (stews and the like) and the famous chicken liver crostini.
From Lake Massaciuccoli come the lake fish (tench and eels, mostly; while the delicious trout dart in the streams of Garfagnana); from the Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli park also partridges, pheasants, wood pigeons, mallards, hares and wild boars for lovers of feathered and furred game.
But the closer you get to the coast the more seafood you find, for all tastes and budgets since the Viareggio fish market is one of the liveliest and most important in the Tyrrhenian Sea, which also supplies important markets in northern Italy. And from here the stuffed muscles, the so-called “cee” (eel fry), the trabaccolara sauce, the mixed fried fish, the seafood broth.
The variety and quality of legumes and vegetables is also very rich: the “schiaccione” bean from Pietrasanta, the green beans from Sant’Anna, the hunchback cardoon from Capezzano Pianore and the “barbe di prete” (elsewhere called scorzonere), the rapini.
The iconic desserts of this rich and generous land are the Buccellato and the Castagnaccio, the “Marzipan Cake”, the “Sweet Semolina or Rice Cakes”, the rice puddings, the bomboloni (friars) and the frittelle di San Giuseppe.
In each area, the restaurants participating in the Walk are indicated where it is possible, in addition to tasting the typical traditional dishes, to find the “Catarsini menu” or a specific “Catarsini dish” that he appreciated.
Seravezza
Now jealously guarded within the walls of a few families, the culinary soul of Alta Versilia has its roots in a mountain past, marked by the cycles of agriculture, forestry and pastoralism. What emerges is a simple and frugal gastronomy, where ingenuity was expressed through the humble gifts of the earth: robust cabbages, nutritious beans, ancient cereals such as spelt, wheat and rye, sweet chestnuts, corn flour, the inevitable potatoes and juicy tomatoes. Pork, present in all its forms, fragrant mushrooms, garden vegetables and aromatic herbs completed this natural pantry. The fruits of pastoralism played a leading role, giving character to various preparations. Poor cuisine, therefore, but rich in typical dishes such as intruglia, a sort of polenta enriched with vegetables, especially cabbage and beans, excellent fagioli all’uccellletto; matuffi, a semi-liquid polenta made from corn flour accompanied by mushroom sauce or meat sauce; vegetable minestrone; tagliolini with beans, pappa al pomodoro, sbroscia and, finally, tordelli, stuffed ravioli seasoned with meat sauce, the dish for special occasions. Pork was used in all its parts and was also the basis for cured meats such as mortadella and biroldo, produced with blood and fat.
ACCESSIBLE RECIPES
Dear Friends, in this QR code you have listened to information on the gastronomy of the territory which is divided into inland, coastal, lake and scrub cuisine. Italian recipes, however, are local and this means that they differ even a few kilometers away, due to family tradition, the local products used and seasonality. We have not given any recipe indications so far, which we do today thanks to the collaboration of the restaurants that are part of the circuit and who have provided us with their recipe for the Catarsini dish that was most successful in 2023. We have adapted it and recorded it on audio so that you can listen to it, listen to it again and try it and for this reason we have called them ACCESSIBLE RECIPES!
Each recipe is preceded by some information, the quantities measurable with the talking scale are provided and the ingredients are listed in decreasing order of quantity. The number of people is indicated in each recipe.
So good listening, good work and good appetite from
Emiliana Lucchesi
Recipe structure:
title, restaurant and location, brief historical introduction/curiosities anecdotes
doses
ingredients
Procedures
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GARMUGIA LUCCHESE
RISTORANTE BUCA DI SANANTONIO – LUCCA
Garmugia is a spring soup from 1600 typical of Lucca, very substantial, which in ancient times was prepared for mothers after giving birth or for those who needed to regain strength and vigor.
Even today it is a very popular dish in Lucca’s restaurants and appreciated by Italians and foreigners, as well as by Catarsini himself who never failed to come and taste it when he was in Lucca
Serves 4
250 grams of peas to be peeled
250 grams of broad beans to be peeled
100 grams of asparagus tips in small pieces
100 grams of lean veal, minced
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
50 grams of raw ham cut into strips
3 fresh onions
the heart of 2 artichokes, cleaned and finely chopped
4 slices of toasted homemade bread
Salt and pepper to taste
In a pan with high edges, brown the chopped onion, the ham and the veal in the oil, then add the asparagus tips, the artichokes and, after having peeled them, the peas and broad beans. Salt and pepper. Continue to flavor everything for 5 – 10 minutes and cook (about 30 minutes) adding hot water or meat broth. Serve the garmugia in a soup bowl on toasted bread adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil from Colline Lucchesi.
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TAGLIOLINI “ CATARSINI”
DA NOI DUE RESTAURANT – LIDO DI CAMAIORE
The restaurant offers a dish dear to Catarsini who has tasted it many times in the years of frequenting this place, when Signora Maria Luisa was in the kitchen. It is a condiment, typical of the cuisine of the hinterland, which requires two condiments to be cooked separately and to be combined when serving the dish.
SERVES 8:
Ingredients for the mushroom sauce
800 grams of fresh mushrooms, porcini or other species
50 grams of extra virgin olive oil
30 grams of chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Ingredients for the meat sauce:
300 grams of mixed meat (beef and pork), coarsely minced
300 grams of tomato puree
150 grams of pork belly
100 grams of red wine
50 grams of extra virgin olive oil
50 grams of carrots
50 grams of celery
50 grams of onions
Fine salt, black pepper and vegetable stock to taste
A few basil leaves and parmesan flakes to taste when serving
In a large pan, sauté the parsley and garlic in the oil, add the cleaned and chopped mushrooms and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat and stirring often.
In another large pan, brown the chopped celery, onions, carrots and bacon; add the minced meat and cook for a few minutes, stirring often; deglaze with red wine and then add the tomato puree, salt and pepper. Leave to cook covered over low heat for at least 40 minutes, adding vegetable stock if necessary. The ragù is ready when all the liquids have evaporated and the oil rises to the surface (the local expression is “Quando torna su l’olio”)
When the two sauces are ready, mix them together and before seasoning the pasta, add a few basil leaves chopped with your hands and once plated, sprinkle with parmesan flakes.
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SPAGHETTI WITH CLAMS
RISTORANTE ADRIANA – BOZZANO
In Versilia, clams are called arselle and can be found fresh but also shelled and frozen in their water. Spaghetti with shelled clams is a dish that characterizes the cuisine of the Versilia coast. A few simple ingredients for a delicious dish full of seafood flavor.
SERVES 4
1 kilo of clams (telline) from which just over 200 grams of cores will remain
320 grams of spaghetti
50 grams of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and a few stems
half a chili pepper
1 glass of dry white wine
Place the clams in a pan and add a few parsley stems and let them open over a high heat. Remove them from the heat and remove them from the shell. Filter their water and set it aside. In the same large pan, sauté chopped garlic, a little parsley and chilli pepper in extra virgin olive oil. Add the clams, their water and wine and let evaporate over high heat. Separately, cook the spaghetti in appropriately salted water, drain them when three-quarters cooked and bring them to the end of cooking in the pan together with the sauce and two tablespoons of the pasta cooking water, which guarantees the creaminess of the sauce. Add the remaining chopped parsley and serve.
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LAMB IN A CASSEROLE WITH SWEET AND SOUR VEGETABLES
SOTTO SOPRA RISTORANTE CASERECCIO – CAPEZZANO PIANORE
Lamb is part of the gastronomic tradition of Versilia all year round. The combination with sweet and sour vegetables is not an extravagant combination but one that enhances the flavor of the lamb and perpetuates, in a modern key, an ancient characteristic of Tuscan cuisine which is sweet and sour or strong sweet.
SERVES 4
For the lamb
1 kilogram of lamb meat (ribs and/or leg)
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
200 grams of dry white wine
5 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
1 chili pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
For the sweet and sour vegetables, the doses indicated are for each type of vegetable
5 aubergines and 5 peppers
100 grams of olive oil or seed oil
100 grams of white vinegar
100 grams of sugar
Salt to taste
In a large pan, brown the garlic cloves, bay leaves and chili pepper in the oil, add the lamb and brown it over a high heat, turning it. When it is colored, add the two glasses of wine and let it evaporate, salt and pepper. Cover, keep the heat low, basting occasionally with the cooking juices. After about 50 minutes the lamb is ready.
Cut the vegetables into regular pieces and place them separately in two pans with cold oil. Bring to temperature, add salt and pepper, turning them often until they are soft but not mushy. Add the sugar and vinegar and let it evaporate quickly over high heat.
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LINGUINE WITH VIAREGGIO BLONDE SHRIMP TARTARE
AND BROAD BEAN PESTO
LUCIFERO RESTAURANT & COCKTAIL – VIAREGGIO
It has always been a custom in coastal cuisine to propose combinations of fish and seasonal vegetables. This spring recipe is also a classic example and the crustacean used and caught off the coast of Viareggio can be either prawn or sparnocchio.
Serves 4
320 grams of linguine
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots
salt and pepper to taste
ingredients for the pesto
200 grams of shelled broad beans
50 grams of extra virgin olive oil
30 grams of pine nuts
3 tablespoons of grated pecorino cheese
2 cloves of garlic
Ingredients for the shrimp tartare
16-20 shrimp (4-5 shrimp per person depending on the size)
extra virgin olive oil, a generous grating of untreated lemon zest and pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients for the pesto in a blender and blend intermittently so that the mixture remains cold. Place it in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rest for at least half an hour.
Prepare the shrimp tartare by chopping only the pulp with a knife and season with oil, grated lemon zest and pepper. Place in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
In a large pan, sauté the chopped shallot in oil, separately cook the pasta al dente in well-salted water, drain and toss in the pan.
Plate everything cold: on the bottom of the plate, place a layer of pesto, place the linguine flavored with shallots and hot on top and arrange the shrimp tartare on top and serve.
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CATARSINI FISH SOUP
GRAN CAFFE’ MARGHERITA – VIAREGGIO
In Viareggio cuisine, fish soup does not have codified ingredients but is chosen based on seasonality and the market. In any case, it is fish and shellfish excluding blue fish. The recipe proposed by this restaurant is a dish of the local gastronomic tradition. This historic and majestic building in liberty-eclectic style was loved by Giacomo Puccini and frequented by many artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century and had in Catarsini a protagonist from the 30s to the 70s of the last century. The restaurant is located about 300 meters from the Villa Museo Paolina Bonaparte where his Atelier is located, re-arranged and open to the public since 2002.
Ingredients for 4 people
About 1 kilogram of mixed pulp of prawns, calamari, scampi and crab
300 grams of mussels with their shells and already purged
300 grams of clams with their shells and already purged
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
1 glass of dry white wine
2 cloves of garlic
3-4 peeled tomatoes
Thyme, salt to taste and a piece of chili pepper (if desired)
4 slices of toasted homemade bread
In a large saucepan with high edges, sauté the two whole garlic cloves in the oil and then remove them. Add the chopped calamari, deglaze with the white wine and let it evaporate. Add the chopped tomato pulp and the thyme sprigs tied with a twist of kitchen string. Season with salt, pour in half a liter of hot water and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the mussels and clams and let them open in the sauce. Finally add the scampi, prawn and crab pulp. Cover and cook for another 5-6 minutes.
Remove the thyme and serve the fish soup garnished with previously toasted bread crouton.
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TRABACCOLARA SAUCE AND ANCHOVIES IN THE POOR STYLE
BAR TRATTORIA NOSTROMO – VIAREGGIO
Trabaccolara sauce takes its name from the trabaccoli, fishing boats typical of San Benedetto del Tronto and imported to Viareggio by fishermen who moved here at the beginning of the twentieth century. The ingredients of the sauce are still variable today because it was caught fish, and therefore different for each period of the year, and remained unsold. This sauce was cooked on board during the fishing days to season pasta. Today we can define Trabaccolara as a mixed fish sauce, cut into small pieces, with the exception of blue fish, with which to season long or short pasta.
Indicative ingredients for 4 people
500 grams of red mullet, scorpion fish, gurnard and other pulp
300 grams of tomato sauce
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 sprig of thyme
Salt, pepper or chili pepper to taste
Anchovies alla povera are characterized by being processed raw, after being cleaned and frozen. They are usually served as an appetizer or for a tasty snack; anchovies are a blue fish caught in our sea, very tasty, and this recipe enhances their characteristics.
Ingredients for 4 people
500 grams of anchovy fillets (gutted, deboned and pickled)
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
2-3 Tropea onions, thinly sliced
lemon juice, white wine vinegar and dry white wine to taste
salt and pepper
Lay out a layer of anchovy fillets on a tray, add salt and pepper and add the sliced onions. Continue to arrange in layers until all the ingredients are used up. Sprinkle with lemon, vinegar and white wine and leave to rest for a couple of hours. Drain everything and dry carefully. In a small baking dish with high edges, arrange in layers again and add oil until everything is covered.
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PAPPA AL POMODORO (PANCOTTO)
RISTORANTE GINA – MONSAGRATI VAL FREDDANA
Pappa al pomodoro is a Tuscan dish made famous by the novel Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca by Luigi Bertelli, known under the pseudonym Vamba, and by the song by Rita Pavone. It is a recipe for reusing leftover bread, very simple but very tasty. This restaurant is a place in Catarsini’s heart, always run by the same family. In 1943/44 Catarsini was evacuated to Val Freddana where he painted the cycle of frescoes in the church of San Martino and in that of Castagnori. He and his family frequented this restaurant until the end of his life. The recipe is the original one of the grandmother of the current manager.
Ingredients for 4 people
About 800 grams of stale bread
500 grams of tomato puree
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of chopped ingredients (onion, celery, carrot and plenty of garlic)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
Salt, pepper or chilli to taste
A few basil leaves
Grated parmesan
Chop the herbs and let them flavour gently with the oil, add the puree and the concentrate, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and add the basil and cook for half an hour, diluting with hot water. Add the sliced bread to the sauce, cover and let everything cook until well blended (use a ladle or a whisk). Serve and, if desired, add grated parmesan and a drizzle of oil.
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SPAGHETTI ALLA VIAREGGINA
OSTERIA LE TERME – MASSACIUCCOLI
This first course uses mussels that in this area are called “muscoli” and were collected from the rocks of the Viareggio pier. It was also a pastime of the boys who dived and free-dived to collect these mussels competing to see who could catch the most. It is a simple and tasty dish to cook almost all year round; the “muscoli” are now almost all imported from other areas.
Ingredients for 4 people
320 grams of spaghetti
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
80 mussels
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of double tomato concentrate
1 glass of dry white wine
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and a few stems
salt, pepper or chili pepper to taste
Have the mussels prepared with the external shell properly cleaned, the “byssus” and the beard that comes out removed. Remove the broken mussels and place them together with the parsley stalks in a large pan and cover it to let them open over high heat. Opening takes a few minutes. Remove the mussel cores and place them in a container, filter the water that has formed and set it aside. Rinse the same pan and use it to flavor the garlic cloves, chili pepper and some of the chopped parsley in the oil. Add the roughly chopped mussel cores, deglaze with white wine, add the tomato paste and the mussel water and leave to cook over high heat for a few minutes.
Cook the pasta in properly salted water and drain it al dente, put it to flavor in the pan with the sauce, plate and garnish with the remaining chopped parsley.
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RISOTTO WITH COOT
LE RADICI RESTAURANT – VIAREGGIO
The coot is a marsh bird that is hunted in the nearby Massaciuccoli lake. It was a dish much loved by Giacomo Puccini who cooked it in his hunting lodge on stilts called Club La Bohème during frequent meetings with hunters in the area. In Tuscany the coot is hunted from October 1st to November 30th. It is definitely a winter dish and for game lovers.
Ingredients for 4 people
1 coot
320 grams of rice
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
1 glass of vinegar
1 glass of red wine
250 milliliters of meat broth
1 knob of butter
1 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of tomato paste or 250 grams of tomato puree
1 red onion, 1 carrot, 1 stick of celery, 2 sprigs of thyme, 4 bay leaves, 4 juniper berries
salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the plucked and skinned coot and place it whole in a container for an hour covered with cold water and vinegar and together with the juniper and bay leaves. After the time has elapsed, remove it, dry it and set it aside. In a large, high-sided pan, sauté the chopped onion, carrot, celery and thyme in oil and brown the coot, turning it often. Add the red wine and let it evaporate. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the coot from the pan and place it on a cutting board; debone it with your hands and then chop the flesh coarsely. Put it back in the pan, add the broth and tomato and continue cooking for about 40 minutes, covered, over low heat. At this point, add the rice and cook it. Before serving, stir in the butter and parmesan.
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TAGIATELLE WITH CINTA RAGU’ AND OLIVES
TRATTORIA LA CORTECCIA – MASSAROSA
This restaurant has also been a place of Catarsini’s heart; it has been run by the same family since the early 1960s, who have chosen to maintain and enhance traditional dishes. The recipe uses olives from the surrounding hills and Cinta meat (the Cinta is a selected breed of pig in the Siena area, so called for the “collar” of contrasting colored fur that characterizes them; since 2012 it has had the denomination of Cinta Senese DOP and is raised throughout Tuscany). The meat of this breed is highly appreciated by gourmets because the animals are raised in the wild and feed on acorns and what the forest offers.
Ingredients for 4 people
500 grams of minced Cinta Senese meat
400 grams of fresh tagliatelle pasta
200 milliliters of dry white wine
200 milliliters of meat broth
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
100 grams of olives in brine
1 celery stalk, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 bay leaves, a sprig of rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pan with high edges, brown the chopped celery, carrot, onion, bay leaves and rosemary in the olive oil, add the minced meat and season with salt and pepper. After a few minutes, add the wine and let it evaporate completely. Cook covered and over low heat for about an hour, adding the broth when necessary. Once cooked, add the olives.
Cook the tagliatelle in properly salted water for a few minutes, drain and season with the ragù.
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VERSILIA TORDELLI
RISTORANTE DECO – PALACE HOTEL VIAREGGIO
Tordelli (strictly with a d) are a very rich stuffed pasta seasoned with a meat sauce, typical of the Lucca area and all of Versilia, with very minimal variations that mainly concern the consistency of the pasta and the aromatic herbs used for the filling and the ragù. They can also be seasoned with raw olive oil or butter, always raw, and parmesan. It is an elaborate recipe that in ancient times involved all the members of the family around the kitchen table where the long pasta was rolled out, stuffed with the filling, folded and finally cut with a glass to obtain half-moons to be sealed with the prongs of a fork. Today, this ancient custom has been revived in some families and this is why we advise our friends to get help and try to make tordelli because in company the most challenging part of the recipe is easily overcome.
Pasta: ingredients for 4 people
500 grams of white flour
5 eggs
a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
a teaspoon of salt
Filling: ingredients for 4 people
250 grams of beef
half a chicken breast
a pork steak
100 grams of mortadella
50 grams of parmesan cheese
100 grams of stale bread
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
a glass of milk
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
The original recipe calls for making the pasta by hand, but you can use a mixer instead. Place the flour in a fountain shape (cone shape) in the center of the pastry board and make a hole in which to slide the whole eggs and a little warm water, a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt. Knead with your hands and mix all the ingredients until you obtain a smooth and elastic consistency. Let the dough rest for about an hour at room temperature.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. Place the bread in the milk in a container so that it softens; chop all the meats (beef, chicken, pork) and brown them in a pan with oil. Let them cool in a bowl, add the chopped mortadella, egg, parmesan, finely chopped parsley and garlic and the bread removed from the milk and well squeezed. Mix everything well with your hands.
Roll out the dough into long but not too wide strips, place balls of filling in the center of the strip, spaced two fingers apart from each other. Once the strip is finished, fold it over on itself and use your fingers to press between each ball. With a glass or a circular metal mold, cut out a sort of filled crescent around the ball, these are the tordelli. Complete by pressing the edges of the crescent of pasta with the prongs of a fork, in this way the pasta is sealed and the filling cannot come out.
The tordelli should be cooked in salted water for a few minutes and when they float they are ready to be drained. Remove them from the water carefully in small quantities with the help of a spider so that they do not break and place them on the serving dish covered with plenty of ragù or seasoned with plenty of oil and parmesan.
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MEATBALL IN SAUCE
ENOTECA ANGELI – CAMAIORE
This is also a “bell tower” recipe that is generally a “empty fridge” recovery dish but can also arise, as in this case, from the imagination of the cook and her family and local traditions, who chooses and uses ingredients she likes to obtain a tasty dish that everyone likes in every season. This is the Catarsini dish from Enoteca Angeli di Camaiore that was most successful in 2023.
Ingredients for 4 people
For the meatloaf:
300 grams of lean ground beef
100 grams of Bologna mortadella
2 slices of white bread soaked in milk
1 egg
100 grams of grated pecorino cheese
breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste
For the tomato sauce:
500 grams of tomato puree
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic and a bunch of parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
In a bowl, combine the meat, mortadella, pecorino cheese, parsley and chopped garlic, add the whole egg and the bread soaked in milk and well squeezed. Knead with your hands until the mixture is well blended. If it is too soft, add a little breadcrumbs a little at a time. Place the dough on a cutting board and form it into the classic cylindrical shape of a meatloaf; wrap it in cling film and then in tin foil and seal it well. Prepare a pan with all the ingredients for the sauce and place the meatloaf in it. Bring to the boil and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes on one side and 20 minutes on the other. Once cooked, let everything cool, remove the meatloaf and place it on a cutting board, remove both wrappings and slice it; place it on a serving tray and drizzle with hot sauce.
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SEA BREAM WITH VERNACCIA AND
LENA’S SUPER SIMPLE APPLE PIE
BUONAMICO RESTAURANT – VIAREGGIO
Sea bream with Vernaccia. Sea bream is a fish that is usually caught in our Mediterranean in the spring-summer period when the warmer waters bring it closer to the coast. This tasty recipe includes a fundamental ingredient, onion, which provides a succulent and indispensable flavor. The wine chosen, Vernaccia, is one of the oldest and most appreciated white wines of Tuscany and its production was already known in 1300, famous the Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
Ingredients for 4 people
1 sea bream weighing about one kilogram and two hundred already gutted and scaled (it is recommended to have it prepared by the retailer or use the ones already cleaned)
1 kilogram of Tropea onions
1 glass of Vernaccia
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
flour, salt and pepper to taste
Cut the onions into thin slices and cook them with the oil, salt and pepper in a large pan over low heat for about half an hour, covered. Add the lightly floured sea bream, add the white wine and place in a hot oven and finish cooking at 200 degrees for about 25 -30 minutes.
Serve whole or filleted, accompanied by the creamy onions.
Lena’s super simple apple pie. Buonamico offers a dessert that recalls home-made flavours and that was much appreciated by Catarsini; he loved apples and went every year to choose them personally. Catarsini, now elderly, his granddaughter Elena recalls, would go to Mario Tobino’s farm to get apples for the winter supply. They were both born in January, one day apart, 11 years apart. Once the two chatted for so long that they even skipped lunch, just to avoid interrupting each other…
Ingredients for 4 people
4 medium-sized apples, cleaned and roughly chopped
200 grams of sugar
2 whole eggs
100 grams of flour
100 grams of melted butter
1 sachet of vanilla
4 grams of baking powder (about a quarter of a 16-gram sachet)
a pinch of salt
In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, a pinch of salt, add the flour, vanilla, baking powder, melted butter; finally add the apples, mix and arrange the mixture in a baking pan, lined with baking paper, 24-28 centimeters (the cake should be quite low). Cook in a hot oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
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FARRO SOUP
ENO-TRATTORIA DA BEPPINO – VALDICASTELLO
Farro is an ancient cereal from the Lucca area, grown mainly in Garfagnana. It is also part of the coastal cuisine, paired with fish. The dish that Beppino offers is the traditional one from the hinterland. Catarsini was not only fond of it, but the only dish he knew how to cook was bean broth, which is the basis of the recipe.
Ingredients for 6 people
250 grams of boiled borlotti beans
250 grams of boiled cannellini beans
150 grams of potatoes
100 grams of spelt
100 grams of extra virgin olive oil
30 grams of lard
30 grams of celery, 30 of onion and 30 of carrot, chopped
3 sage leaves
1 teaspoon of lard and rosemary pesto
3 peeled tomatoes or a tablespoon of tomato paste
vegetable stock or cooking water from the beans, salt and pepper to taste
garlic to taste
Chop the celery, onion and carrot with sage and half the rosemary, fry gently in the oil and then add the sliced potatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the beans with a little of the cooking water or vegetable stock until everything is covered. Add the lard pesto and the remaining rosemary, the peeled tomatoes or the tomato paste, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about an hour until the potatoes are broken down. Season with salt and pepper. Blend everything with an immersion blender, adding broth if necessary. The density of the bean broth, more or less liquid, varies according to taste.
Separately, cook the spelt in plenty of salted water, drain it, add it to the bean broth and serve with a drizzle of raw oil.