Recipe Index

An easy way to browse through all the contents we published since January 2021, sorted by course and category. If you cook one of these recipes, share the results with us on social media by using the hashtag #myseasonaltable and tagging @julskitchen on Instagram.

About Cucina Povera, our new cookbook

Meet Cucina Povera, our new cookbook - Preorder Announcement | How the idea of Cucina Povera was born.

How to get six additional, unique recipes that complement Cucina Povera - Preorder Cucina Povera and receive an instant download of the Cucina Povera Bonus Recipe Booklet, featuring olive oil focaccia, limoncello, and many more

Pantry

Pulses, the pantry protagonists - Recipes with beans, chickpeas, and lentils

Vegetable ragù - Weekend Cooking Project

Appetizers

Prosciutto and Melon Panzanella - When two classics of the Italian summer collide into one delicious dish.

Baked stuffed squash blossoms - These stuffed squash blossoms have a moist, intensely aromatic filling, and a golden brown, crisp crust. You won't miss the fried ones!

Pittule Salentine, fried dough balls from Salento - (LFT+)

Focaccine with white button mushrooms and taleggio cheese - (LFT+)

Caprese Salad - Weekend Cooking Project

Mozzarella in carrozza - It is a smart way to upcycle stale bread and old mozzarella. (LFT+)

Smoked carrot hummus - Serve it as a dip for raw vegetables, as an appetiser spread on toasted bread, or turn it into a meal with some crumbled goat cheese. (LFT+)

Two recipes for an Italian aperitivo - Make a slow-roasted tomato and stracciatella crostone and a beetroot and walnut carpaccio. (LFT+)

Pasta and fresh pasta dishes

Spinach and ricotta gnudi - Known as gnudi in Florence and malfatti in Siena, these spinach and ricotta dumplings are a light, festive dish. (LFT+)

Tagliatelle with dried porcini and a seasonal roasted squash, walnut, and sage pesto - Two recipes for an early autumn Sunday.

Zucchini cacio e pepe sauce for pasta - Yes, basically this is like zucchini meet basil pesto meet cacio e pepe.

Asparagus and ricotta tortelli - Fresh and zesty, this is a spring pasta dish that I prepared often during the asparagus season. (LFT+)

Butterflies for Spring - Bow tie fresh green and yellow pasta with peas, prosciutto cotto, and cream, to celebrate the arrival of Spring. (LFT+)

The same old tortelli, but with something unusual - Spinach and strained yoghurt tortelli, tossed in brown butter, sage, and lemon zest.

On beets and purple fresh pasta - Purple beetroot ravioli with ricotta, walnuts, and thyme.

Pici, Tuscan fresh pasta - The Tuscan hand pulled fresh pasta you can make with flour and water.

Pasta alla puttanesca - is a hymn to pantry staples, a punchy pasta dish that you can whip up in less than 20 minutes, while you’re cooking your spaghetti. (LFT+)

Pasta with lentils - Weekend Cooking Project

Chestnut flour tagliatelle with porcini and sausages - (LFT+)

Bean, pasta, and mussel soup - (LFT+)

Tomato and mozzarella lasagne - Weekend Cooking Project

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Crêpes - Weekend Cooking Project

Pasta aglio, olio, e peperoncino with squid and crispy artichokes -

Panzanella, the Tuscan bread salad - In my family, we make the classic panzanella, without exception. But then friends arrive, each wanting a different version.

Pasta alla Norma - A seasonal Sicilian dish made with fried eggplants, a rich tomato sauce, fresh basil leaves and a dusting of ricotta salata. (LFT+)

Shrimp and wild fennel pesto tagliolini - The beginning of summer is the perfect moment to make wild fennel pesto. (LFT+)

Soups

Bean and farro soup from Garfagnana - Farro has a lovely chewy texture, it’s nutty and hearty, and makes a comforting, easy soup when paired with beans and some basic aromatics. (LFT+)

Garmugia, the greenest Tuscan soup for spring - Make it even more verdant with a stock made with pea and fava bean pods, asparagus stalks, and the green part of a spring onion.

Leek and Potato Purée with Pancetta - Comfort food in a bowl. (LFT+)

Bavarian bread soup for the Oktoberfest - Weekend Cooking Project

Rice and risotto dishes

Squash blossom risotto - A risotto with the smell of summer mornings in the vegetable garden

Roasted tomato risotto with stracciatella - a childhood memory

Chestnut Risotto - (LFT+)

White rice with butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, and mozzarella - (LFT+)

An Italian rice salad - Weekend Cooking Project

Baked goods

Onion strudel - A recipe from a Mediterranean pantry

Ciaccino, ham and mozzarella stuffed thin focaccia from Siena - (LFT+)

Green olive and fennel pollen semolina bread - Bake this bread if you're planning to share it during an aperitivo. Consider baking two loaves as it will disappear quickly. (LFT+)

Meat

L'arista alla fiorentina, Florentine style pork loin - In Tuscany the word arista refers both to the meat cut and to the recipe, usually served during Sunday meals, both in winter and in the summer. (LFT+)

Tuscan fried chicken - A recipe from a cooking class with detailed info about chicken, marinade, and batter.

Pork cutlets - Probably one of my favourite pork cuts.

Chicken and potato meatballs - Weekend Cooking Project

Saltimbocca alla Romana - (LFT+)

Roasted pork loin with apples - Weekend Cooking Project

Stewed Guinea fowl - Weekend Cooking Project

Braised cabbage with sausages - Weekend Cooking Project

Chicken cacciatore - A traditional recipe from the Italian countryside

Stuffed eggplants - Stuffed vegetables are a reassuring presence: they can be prepared in advance and baked in the oven while you are taking care of something else

Beef tenderloin with cherry sauce - If you want to cook beef tenderloin, follow my mum's advice and serve it with cherry sauce for a summer dinner in the garden. (LFT+)

Fish

Caldaro dell’Argentario, a Tuscan fish soup - Weekend Cooking Project

A Sicilian recipe for swordfish - (LFT+)

Vegetables | Side dishes

Sautéed chard with cherry tomatoes and lemon zest - A great as a side dish, but also as a main course with plenty of crusty bread and a poached egg on top.

Baked Savoy cabbage - Would you give it a try?

Fried green tomatoes with grapes - Weekend Cooking Project

the Italian potato frittata - Try the Italian potato frittata for a simple, fuss-free meal. (LFT+)

Roasted baby potatoes with parsley yoghurt sauce - Crisp, golden-brown roasted baby potatoes are quick to make and a great side dish

Green tomato galette - Weekend Cooking Project

Butternut squash pizzette - Weekend Cooking Project

Panzanella, the Tuscan bread salad - In my family, we make the classic panzanella, without exception. But then friends arrive, each wanting a different version.

Desserts

Zuppa inglese, the Tuscan Trifle - I’ll tell you why I love zuppa inglese and why this is a fixture of our cooking classes.

Cavallucci Senesi, Sienese Christmas Walnut Cookies - Meet the cavallucci, the most unusual Christmas cookies, round and rustic, lightly flattened on the ends, floury and a bit lumpy.

Persimmon cake - My persimmon cake looks like an apple cake, but it is the quintessence of the season: it has the colour of rustling leaves with vibrant accents of sliced persimmons. (LFT+)

Poached pears with mascarpone pastry cream - A recipe developed during the recent cooking classes: tiny pears poached in white wine and spices served with a smooth and lemony mascarpone pastry cream

The last summer recipe: gelo di cantalupo - A Sicilian melon pudding.

Sfogliatine alla confettura, the Italian jam puffs - Enjoying breakfast at the local café as a way to reclaim freedom and reproducing that breakfast at home

Strawberry almond biancomangiare - A Sicilian pudding, its short ingredient list gives away its uncomplicated nature. (LFT+)

Vanilla bean seeds and a good panna cotta - The yoghurt makes it lighter, refreshingly tart, the best ever made.

Torta di riso carrarina - A rice pudding cake from Massa and Carrara. (LFT+)

Florentine rice fritters - A Tuscan pantry sweet treat to celebrate Fat Thursday (LFT+)

Amaretti tart with pastry cream - (LFT+)

Olive oil apple cake - The timeless comfort of an apple cake

A seasonal cake with pastry cream and seasonal fruit - Paid subscribers only

Butternut Squash Cake - Weekend Cooking Project

Torta caprese - (LFT+)

Pan co’ Santi, a Tuscan walnut and raisin bread - Weekend Cooking Project

Sienese panforte from scratch - (LFT+)

Traditional Tuscan sweet treats - Weekend Cooking Project

Chestnut and ricotta Yule log - Weekend Cooking Project

Grape focaccia - Weekend Cooking Project

Buckwheat cake from Alto Adige - (LFT+)

a [sweet] Swiss Chard Tart - (LFT+)

The Italian Birthday Cake - Weekend Cooking Project

Chilled peaches in wine - Weekend Cooking Project

Pear Almond Cake - Weekend Cooking Project

Biancomangiare, a Sicilian almond milk pudding - (LFT+)

Mead and peach cake - A cake to celebrate Midsummer, the days of light, abundance and harvest.

Italian croissants - We could call these buttery crescents Italian croissants, but you’ll realize how different they are from the first bite.

Preserves

Baby artichokes preserved in olive oil - The good season in a jar. Prepared with Livia and nonna

Peach jam - Weekend Cooking Project (free content)

Pear and rosemary jam - (free content)

Strawberry jam - (LFT+)

Menues

A (mostly) Tuscan Christmas menu - Tuscan and less Tuscan recipes to celebrate Christmas

An Early Spring menu - All the recipes, pro tips, and ideas I couldn’t wait to share with you while cooking an early spring meal for friends.

Other people's pantries

Other people's pantries. Q&A with Manuela Conti - A baker, and a mother who is half cook and half farmer with a sustainable pantry in Brianza

Other people's pantries. Q&A with Rossella Venezia - A food photographer who bakes bread and loves almonds, honey, flour and cookies | A pantry between Marche, Rome and Basilicata, and a strong French influence

Other people's pantries. Q&A with Myriam Sabolla - The life and pantry of a cook and professional organiser in Milan, plus a recipe for the Ligurian farinata and Myriam's preserved lemons

Other people's pantries. Q&A with Enrica Monzani - Talking about her cooking classes in Genoa, Liguria, an all-around pantry and her love for fresh herbs.

Other people's pantries. Q&A with Vea Carpi - Vea is a mountain farmer and a cook, she lives in a mountain farm in the Italian Alps where she has an agritourism with her family

Open Thread & Essays

Welcome to the Letters from Tuscany community. Please introduce yourself here and share your story! - Open thread to everyone

My biggest failures in the kitchen - Failing big, failing often, to improve as a home cook.

I have no intention to set intentions - The new year and the absence of resolutions | A new cookbook crush: Via Carota | A new recipe: ricotta cheesecake with dark chocolate hazelnut spread

Christmas Menu Thread - What are you going to cook for Christmas?

What are we reading for the holidays? - An unusual festive post. I’m not telling you what you could read or gift, but what I am planning to read for the holidays.

Anatomy of a bread salad - Different bread salads of the Italian cucina povera through their ingredients, traditions, and recipes.

Vegetables, the Italian way - Vegetables in restaurants and vegetables at home | Italian vegetables: overcooked or long cooked? | What it takes to develop a recipe | Zucchini sauce for pasta

Tomato varieties in a Tuscan market - Ciliegini, datterini, Costoluti Fiorentini, cuore di bue, Canestrini, San Marzano: all the tomato varieties, and the most delicious recipes you can make with them

Parmigiano Reggiano, one of the first examples of the Made in Italy brand - A visit to a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy to discover the three ingredients (plus two) that make Parmigiano Reggiano unique

Q&A for a new beginning - Don't be shy. Let us know in the comments what makes you love Letters from Tuscany, what conviced you to subscribe, and what you would like to change or add instead.

Your must-have ingredient in your pantry - Open thread to everyone

Which is your favourite fresh pasta? - Open thread to everyone

Talking about comfort food - Open thread for paid subscribers only

Let's talk cookbooks - Open thread for paid subscribers only

Autumn cooking and baking - Open thread for paid subscribers only

Foodie Guides & Travel Tips

Out of office: we’re in Salento - Where we are and what we’ve been doing with summer cooking and summer recipes

Let's go to Valle d'Itria, Apulia - An exclusive gift for you, an Apulian itinerary for curious families written by Giorgia Matrone, a talented Travel Curator

A walk in Siena - Are you ready to have a walk around Siena with us? A coffee break at Morbidi, lunch at Taverna di San Giuseppe and some photos to make you travel.

Salento and Matera, our foodie guide - A brief collection of addresses and links for you to save for a possible future visit to Salento and Matera. (Paid subscribers only)

Being a tourist at home - A lovely restaurant in Colle Val d'Elsa and a day trip to Pienza.

Theme: Pantry