Insalata di melanzane e pomodori - Aubergine and Tomato Salad

Aubergines are sweet and tender in summer, becoming a perfect ingredient for a refreshing salad. They bring the best of Mediterranean flavour.

Panzanella

Panzanella is the Tuscan bread and tomato salad. We used to have it for lunch in Forte dei Marmi, in the hottest summer days. Refreshing and light, it is a typical dish from cucina povera that we can find in all the Mediterranean cuisines, with plenty of variations.

Our domestic panzanella was quite versatile too, as it had to satisfy a crowd with different tastes. The grown ups loved spring onions, cucumbers and even yellow peppers in their panzanella, whereas the children preferred the plain one, with just tomatoes, basil and rocket. To please everybody, panzanella was always served in different versions. 

Calamari in umido con biete - Calamari Stew with Swiss Chard

This is a Tuscan family recipe I make again and again, all the year round. And everybody likes it.  In winter I serve the calamari with polenta, in summer with grains. Always tepid.

Pomodori ripieni - Stuffed Tomatoes

In London, summer comes and goes. Today it was summer and I made one of my favourite summer dishes: tomatoes stuffed with rice.

Ribollita

Last chance to prepare ribollita, the traditional Tuscan soup, mainly made with cannellini beans and cavolo nero and served with stale bread. The cavolo nero will be shortly out of season.
This is my family recipe, an inspiration for this popular soup. In fact, our ribollita slightly changed every time we cooked it, according to what we had in the pantry.
However, we always stick to two main rules: we always use dried cannellini, soaked overnight. The tinned ones have no taste and no consistency. We combine cavolo nero with Swiss chard, which brings a sweeter taste, curbing the tangy cavolo nero. 

Parmigiana di melanzane a modo mio - My Aubergine Parmigiana

Parmigiana di melanzane is the perfect vegetarian main course to share with family and friends. It's not a last-minute dish but it can be prepared in advance and it is always delicious. Especially in the sunny season, when aubergines and tomatoes are ripe and sweet.

In my Parmigiana, I make few changes to the original recipe from Naples.

Torta di riso al caramello - Rice and Caramel Pudding

This recipe is one of Maura's many legacies. Maura was a Tuscan lady who helped my grandmother and my aunt in the kitchen for almost 50 years.

She was a natural chef, who never wrote her recipes on paper, but just cooked them from memory: no measures, no cooking times and temperatures. When Maura died last year, we decided to keep her best dishes alive by writing them down. To do so, we could only rely on our memory, recalling her advices and the tastes and textures of her dishes.