Debi and Gabriele, again between the stove and the camera! Brand New Episode Online!
since Deb and I shot our last episode before Xmas.
Time flew by, we went to Italy and came back, introduced a few guests...Rosanna, Aunt Laura.
We realized all of a
sudden that this was going to be our Valentine's
episode...but we already picked up our recipe for the
day: Pasta e Fagioli.
"Ugh, a bean soup for Valentines'?" we thought,
almost ready to improvise something different...
Then, all considered. The love is in the act of
cooking, not necessarily just in the dish you decided
to prepare.
So, if you feel
like handling the beans tonight....there you
go, have fun!
Featured in this episode a great red Wine and a
superb Olive Oil from the hills of Chianti, courtesy
of the Ruffino estate.
left: Ruffino "Il Ducale", 2003 - right: Laudemio
"Sante Dame" 2006
Finally, the Pappa Episode is up...Enjoy!!!
Florentine farmers used
to cook this soup using stale bread that was saved
during the week, garlic, tomatoes and basil from
their gardens: this is the most humble dish I know,
well, after boiled white rice...
Now, if you go to a restaurant, the tradition is
slowly disappearing, and it is becoming very hard to
find a good old recipe that works; that's why Deb and
I decided to feature in this first episode two very
dear friends of ours, Rosanna and Matteo. The good
recipes are still secretly hidden into very old
Tuscan homes, like The Farm Pacina, in Castelnuovo
Berardenga, a little town that rests on the
hills between the Chianti Area and Siena.
Pacina was originally an
Etruscan site,
then it became a convent in the nine hundreds and
after eight centuries the property was sold by the
church and became private. Today Pacina is an
Agriturismo and a Yoga retreat, Olive Oil and Wine
are produced and distributed in Tuscany...a place
worth a long weekend!