Divina Cucina

Your Best Friend in Italy

Edible Tuscany- Certaldo

by

I am truly blessed.

I live on a tiny hill in the middle of an olive orchard ( ok next to a creepy neighbor building the largest pizza oven of life which is becoming my new “view) in the heart of Tuscany.

I don’t live in a huge house, but rather 1/3 of a old family home divided. I have the middle section, just a small one bedroom with a tiny tiny kitchen and a small yard with a little vegetable garden… and a patio. Simple life.

My village is incredible. The old hill town is one of the best to visit in Tuscany and is without a lot of shops. It is a photographer’s dream. The entire town is made of the traditional red brick.

Certaldo was home to Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron. They hold several fun festivals during the year, but the village itself is worth the visit.

Yesterday I friend came up and we had just a few short hours for a visit, so i suggested a small fairly new trattoria in town.

A Casa Tua, means at your house. It is a small converted apartment on the main road in the old town.
It is owned by a young couple from Naples, but they serve Tuscan food but with a couple of their own touches.

It is located in an old apartment and has a fun collection of different tables and chairs, like at Grandma’s house.

The food is simple.

We had a summer panzanella, farro salad and their house pasta, with garlic, olive oil, chili and tomatoes with crispy bacon added on top. It was served in the pan it was cooked in– very cute and very good.


We started the meal off with their signature coccoli, fried dough, but I must say, they were the lightest I have ever had, I think she is using her secret Naples recipe for these!!


We shared a dish of their fried specialties and fried chicken. There were fried vegetables, but also some fried specialties from Naples, potato croquettes, a rice ball, fried mozzarella as well as some other surprises.


This was a small bite-size Suppli, the naples version of an arancina, the fried risotto balls.

I of course had to have dessert.

Her Tiramisu was lovely– totally different from the classic and adored the presentation.

 


The walls are all signed by happy clients.

tell them Diva sent you!!!

A Casa Tua
Via Boccaccio,24

Certaldo Alto

This is one of the places featured in my Taste Chianti APP.  get a copy to help plan your trip.

Comments

  1. Jamie says

    Beautiful! I want to visit! I so love food in Italy (I don’t want to say Italian food), always so simple yet so flavorful and exciting. And restaurants like this one are the best. The food looks amazing! Okay, I must come and visit!

  8. ourkitcheninventions says

    I am jealously dreaming of the food you had for lunch!! We are having friends over this weekend, and making the Roast Pork recipe from your cookbook…can’t wait to try it!….think of us on Friday night and know we are pretending to be Italian in Atlanta, GA… LOL!

  12. Anne and Kirk says

    We have such wonderful memories of visiting Certaldo Alto when we were introducing my husband’s mother to Tuscany a decade or more ago – before this adorable Trattoria. We didn’t know you then, Judy, so weren’t aware that it was “your town” – a great place to live, for sure!