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Lovin’ Left-overs

Sometimes food memories come back with a simple ingredient. I remember a wonderful summer salad I had ages ago, in Florence, at a tiny trattoria. Cold grilled marinated eggplant slices with chopped fresh tomatoes, lots of basil and tiny meatballs. While I was cleaning the fridge for lunch, that came into mind. So I used…

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Pomodori Verdi- Green Tomatoes

I loved the movie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. I know in America the fried green tomatoes are a Southern specialty. I have always found a great similarity between Southern cooking and Tuscan cooking. Lots of pork fat, overcooked greens, polenta instead of grits and fried green tomatoes. Last year I made some…

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Tuscan Splendors

Another weeklong program done. There is nothing I love more than sharing my Tuscany…. unless it is sharing Sicily! Tuscany has been my home since 1984 and I never get tired of it. Most people don’t get beyond the big cities in one visit. Most of my students are addicted and cannot get enough and…

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Simply Divina- Salsa Verde

Often after I return back home to Italy from a teaching tour, I crave some of the simple flavors which are part of the pantry here in Tuscany. One of the sauces I adore is Salsa Verde. In Italy, it is a sauce served with boiled beef meals or on the lampredotto sandwiches served all…

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Celebrating Spring- Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms with Foraged Borage

Spring gifts from my garden. Wild borage. The leaves are prickly, handle with care! I often cut into thin slices and add to my salads, they have a bright cucumber flavor. Another traditional use is to cook the leaves like spinach. I was craving naked ravioli, called Gnudi. It is especially good with the spring…

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Simply Divina- Fagioli all’Uccelletto

Fagioli all’uccelletto are Tuscan comfort food for me. Since I got home from my teaching tour in the states, the weather has been windy, rainy and perfect for staying in the house and being sick! I seemed to have picked up Bronchitis on the flight home and it knocked me out. I am just getting…

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Radicchio Roses

Like most people that love food, I am a cookbook junkie. Not so much the big cookbooks filled with fotos, but rather the small collections of recipes, written by women that are not professional cooks or the typical church fundraising cookbooks, filled with classic local favorites. I am much more interested in tried and true…

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Italian Kitchen Tools- Taglia Puntarelle

I am a sucker for kitchen toys! The puntarelle are a kind of chicory. The plant has leaves on the outside which are also edible but the treat are these chubby “fingers”. They get cut into tiny threads and then soaked in cold water to curl and crisp up. In Rome, it is possible to…

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Judy Witts Francini

Originally from California; Tuscany has been my home since 1984. I found the city of Florence to hold all my passions, food, wine, art all in one place. When I am not in Tuscany, I am often found in Sicily, my other favorite place to be. Always searching for recipes to share and exploring for the guides I write to my favorite cities for food and wine.

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Visit Tuscany | Kitchenmate

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