Italian Bread and Focaccia
Bread is central to Tuscan cooking. Traditional Tuscan bread is made without salt, and nothing is ever wasted: fresh bread is toasted for bruschetta and crostini, and day-old bread becomes panzanella and pappa al pomodoro.
In this collection you’ll find our focaccia recipes, cecina chickpea flatbread from Livorno, tomato and basil bruschetta and a selection of crostini, together with the classic Tuscan dishes that make the most of leftover bread. You can learn to make several of them on a cooking vacation with us in Tuscany.
Taralli: crunchy Italian fennel seed crackers, boiled then baked
Make traditional Italian taralli at home! This easy recipe uses flour, white wine, extra virgin olive oil, and toasted fennel seeds for a crispy, savory snack.
Tuscan mushroom crostini with porcini and Vin Santo
Best served warm, these crostini will have your guests demanding more. You'll see that the vin santo gives the mushrooms a very special flavour, and the butter gives them a melt in the mouth texture.
Rustic half whole wheat focaccia with rosemary
An easy but unusual focaccia recipe which makes a rustic-textured, half wholewheat bread. Ideal to eat with cheeses and salad.
Whole wheat focaccia with cherry tomatoes and oregano
An easy but unusual focaccia recipe which makes a rustic-textured, half wholewheat bread. Ideal to eat with cheeses and salad.
Tuscan bean and escarole crostini
You can serve small quantities of this Tuscan bean dish on crostini, as an appetizer, or larger quantities as a hearty soup.
Pappa al pomodoro: Tuscan tomato, bread and basil soup
This classic summer dish is very versatile: it can be eaten hot, at room temperature or chilled. It does however rely on ripe, tasty tomatoes.
Eggplant crostini (crostini di melanzane)
Crostini are little appetizers that you can invent yourself depending on what’s in season and what ingredients you happen to have around. It is easy to cook eggplant in too much oil, since it is something of an oil sponge… this recipe seals the eggplant before oil is added so that you use less oil.
Tomato and basil bruschetta: the classic Italian appetizer
In Italian, this simple but delicious tomato appetizer is pronounced "Brusketta". Obviously, use the tastiest tomatoes that you can get hold of. Often, cherry tomatoes have a lot more flavour than larger varieties.
Panzanella: Tuscan bread and tomato salad, two ways
This is a great dish to make a couple of hours in advance in the summer, to have ready waiting for you in the fridge when you get back home. It is light yet satisfying.
Cecina: Tuscan chickpea flatbread from Livorno
There are versions of this all the way up to the French Riviera. In Livorno (Leghorn) it is served as an energy-packed sandwich.