Recipes From Villa Ortaglia
Montepulciano Tuscany

PAPPA AL POMODORO

Ingredients for 6 people

- Ripe tomatoes for sauce 6 Kilos

- Garlic, chilli pepper, salt and pepper as you like

- Fresh basil

- Bread crumbs /one half Kilo
 
Scald the tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds to remove the skin and take away also the seeds.

Warm up in a saucepan the garlic with extra virgin olive oil, add the tomatoes and cook for 15/20 minutes.

Crush the tomatoes while stirring and add the chilli at your taste and the fresh basil cut grossly.

Add the bread crumbs and stir until well-blended.

Serve at room temperature and add on the top a couple of leaves of fresh basil and a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil.

 

PANZANELLA

This salad was eaten by poor Tuscan farmers and was one of their meals during the summer.  The main concept is that you cannot throw away the bread, but you must use what is left for a meal next day. Although made with simple ingredients, the Panzanella is rich in flavor and aroma, scented by the sun, and highly recommended for summer lunches. The essential ingredient is the Tuscan bread however any artisan bread will do.

Ingredients for 4 people

- Day old bread / 1 Kilo

- 1 cucumber, 1 sweet pepper, 2 celery stalks, 1 carrot, 2 onions, 2 eggs hard-boiled, 5 fillets of anchovy


Slice the bread and place it in cold water for twenty minutes.  

Meanwhile, slice the cucumber, sweet pepper, celery stalks, carrot, onions, eggs  and anchovies. Place all the ingredients in a salad bowl.  

Take the bread from the water, squeeze it with your hands to remove excess of water, and mix & stir it  with the vegetables.  

Add extra virgin oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and stir thoroughly.

Chop 2 ripe tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mint and add to the salad.  

Let the salad rest in a cool place for at least 30 minutes  before serving.

 

SCALOPPINE AL LIMONE

Veal or Chicken Cutlets With Lemon Sauce

Very simple dish for the farmer’s served Sundays in the summer.
A meal with meat was a way to celebrate the holiday.

Ingredients for 4 people

- 8/10 slices of chicken breast or veal slices

- 1 egg

- flour

- 1 spoon of butter

- 5 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

- 1/2 glass of white wine and 1/2 glass of water

- The juice of 1/2 lemon

- Parsley, salt

 
Flour the chicken or veal and press the slices with your hands.

Fry the butter and the oil at high heat, add the floured chicken and turn the slices until both sides are brown.

Add the wine and keep cooking for 5 more minutes.

Pick up the slices and place them in the serving plate leaving the sauce in the pan.

Raise the heat and add the water, the chopped parsley, the salt and stir for one minute.

Add the egg that you will have beaten and stirred with the juice of the lemon.

Turn off the heat and keep stirring.

Pour the sauce over the scaloppine and serve at room temperature.

 
SCOTTIGLIA  

Tuscan Mixed Meats

Then even the farmers became wealthier and now a braised of mixed meats is traditional main course of the southern Tuscany. To make this recipe you will need five different types of meats: rabbit, chicken, veal, pork, pigeon, lamb, turkey. Some like to add also tasty sausages too.

Chop 4lb of mixed meats to mid-size pieces

Chop 1 garlic clove, 1 peeled carrot, half trimmed celery stalk, half onion add all into a pot where you warmed 5 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Fry them for 5 minutes then raise the heat and add the meats.

Brown well on all sides then add the half pound of tomatoes, peeled and puréed, cover and cook for 10 minutes

Add half cup of stock into the pot, mix and season with salt and pepper.

Cook for one hour, until the sauce is thick

Slice some bread and toast the slices on the grill or in the oven until become golden

Rub one side of the of the slices with garlic and place one of those in each plate, garlic side up

Add the meats and sauce to the slices and sprinkle with parsley and basil.

Serve very hot

 
PEPERONI CON CAPPERI  

( PEPPERS WITH CAPERS )

A summer Tuscan farmer’s tradition

Ingredients for 4 people

- 3 big peppers (yellow, red, green)

- A handfull of capers

- A handful of grated parmesan cheese

- 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Open the pepper and take out the seeds and the inside white part, then cut in large pieces.

Add the peppers in the large pan with extra virgin olive oil and turn them occasionally keeping high heat. When the peepers are slightly withered, add the capers and the cheese over them. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let cool down. Serve at room temperature.