Bean and Escarole Soup (or Crostini)

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You can serve small quantities of this Tuscan bean dish on crostini, as an appetizer, or larger quantities as a hearty soup.

Fruit Tart with Frangipane Layer

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This is a tart to rival a patisserie bought one. In our cooking courses in Italy we show you just how the pastry should be rolled out: quickly, gently but firmly. It takes some practice, but is well worth mastering. Delicious with soft fruit such as raspberries.
minestrone

Springtime Minestrone

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A slow-cooked minestrone made with fresh seasonal ingredients and served with good bread is a healthy and delicious dinner or lunch.

Baked Tomatoes Filled with Rice

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You can only use parboiled rice in this recipe since the grains stay separate. Non parboiled rice will turn into a sticky blob!

Eggplant, tomato and basil sauce with ricotta

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This simple sauce relies on good eggplants (aubergines), tasty, ripe tomatoes, fresh basil and a good ricotta cheese. A real treat in the autumn at our cooking school in Tuscany!

Tuscan Grape Harvest Cake

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In Tuscany, this complex-flavoured but simple to make cake is only made for a few weeks a year, when the small, sweet, seedy red grapes are around (many are “gleaned” in the vineyards after the harvest). Use the sweetest red grapes you can.
budino

Budino ~ Italian Crème Caramel

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Traditionally a "budino" is made in a large mould, not little individual moulds. It makes for a more spectacular sight when it it served, but be careful when you turn it upside down to serve!

Custard Pie with Pine Nuts & Almonds

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In this traditional Tuscan dessert the combination of rich pastry, delicate custard and toasted nuts makes for a special treat indeed.

Tiramisù

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Tiramisu (literally “Pick me up”) seems to have been around for generations, but is in fact a creation from the 1970s! The version that we teach at our cooking school in Tuscany uses custard.
Panna cotta

Panna Cotta

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The secret to a good panna cotta is achieving something that sets, but is still wonderfully creamy. Experiment with agar- agar quantities since they do vary!