There is simply so much to learn and 5 full days at Toscana Saporita for the Advanced Class are spent cooking, cooking, cooking, and did I mention eating and drinking?!

One of the breakfast features today were waffles with Nutella and bananas! Oh my! After a couple cups of coffee and some fresh fruit and mineral water to counter the sugar high, it was time to cook! Today we would be doing more authentic Tuscan dishes, including Ribollita Soup, Roasted Pork Shanks, and Sugo di Cinghiale (Wild Boar Sauce), among other things!

After making pasta, we learned about classic “Stinco” or shin, the pork version of Ossobuco (Stinco di Maiale, Pork Shin), and though not typically called this, Ossobuco is technically Stinco di Vitello (Veal Shin).

We learned about Ribollita, the classic Tuscan “kitchen sink” soup, which is perfect especially in the cooler winter months, where a kettle simmers away with all kinds of vegetables and broth, as well as leftover bread to thicken the soup. It is hearty and delicious, and truly any veggies you have in the fridge can work (carrots, celery, tomato, Swiss Chard, Kale, cauliflower, squash, zucchini, etc, etc, etc!)

We made pastries with decorative designs (above).

As the Advanced Class (not for the squeamish), we also got to butcher two pigs that would be used for making Porchetta!

Another Tuscan staple, Cinghiale (Wild Boar meat)–we learned how to marinate the meat overnight and then sauté it to create the delicious Wild Boar Sauce to accompany freshly made pasta!

After another long, but fun day, everybody is still laughing and smiling and ready for dinner!

Ribollita: the finished product should be thick from the boiling down of the vegetables and the bread, almost like a porridge.