The “Puccini” walking-running-biking trail.
Monday morning was beautiful, a little cool, probably in the mid-50’s. I bundled up and ran for an hour around the property, came back, cleaned up, and headed to breakfast. The area is great for exercise– you can borrow a bike and ride all around nearby Lake Massaciuccoli, and run on smooth, gravel surfaces. Just look out for the occasional Cacciatori or hunters! They set up blinds out in the fields and shoot at ducks, game birds, wild boar, rabbits, you name it! Breakfast at Toscana Saporita consists of good Italian coffee (Espresso if you like), juices, mineral water, fresh fruit, cold cuts, bread, cheese, and usually eggs, a frittata, and on some days something sweet! Good fuel for a long day in the kitchen!
The first lessons were knife skills, followed by oxidation and tricks to keep foods from oxidizing, such as lemon juice (with artichokes), and blanching greens, such as spinach or basil in water with baking soda for a few seconds, then shocking in an ice bath, and drying in order to preserve the brilliant green color for things like Spinach pasta, sautéed broccoli rabe, and the brightest, greenest pesto you’ll ever see (until you try it at home!) You won’t want to skip this step ever again, no more dull greenish-brown pesto for me!
Making Traditional Ligurian Croxetti Pasta with handmade wooden molds!
Sandra taught us how to make Ligurian “Croxetti,” which are a traditional, round, flat pasta (coin-shaped), made with little wooden tools with different insignias you stamp into the round cuts of pasta to give them texture. Families have them custom made, and can even put their family crest into their pasta! This would pair perfectly with the Pesto we would enjoy for lunch, along with a salad of Burrata with roasted tomatoes we would enjoy with some wine, on the terrace overlooking the entire estate.
I bought some Croxetti molds so I can now make Croxetti at home, and they made perfect holiday gifts and stocking stuffers for foodie friends and famiglia!
Croxetti with Pesto, and Burrata with Roasted Tomatoes for lunch on the sun-drenched patio at La Casa Rossa.
Buon’ Appetito!
Stay tuned for more of my adventures at Toscana Saporita!
