3 Tuscan recipes to transport your taste buds
Cook Amber Guinness has compiled her Italian know-how in a tantalising new book filled with recipes and reminiscences.
Imagine days spent wandering the local cobbled stone markets in Tuscany, then returning home with fresh produce to whip up a dish and dine alfresco under the fading golden light. This might sound like a fantasy, or at least a very far-off holiday, but thanks to Amber Guinness, we can have some semblance of an Italian adventure without needing to leave home. In her new book, A House party in Tuscany: Recipes, Stories and Art from Arniano, Guinness reminisces on her upbringing in a property on the outskirts of Montalcino which is now home to residential art retreat, The Arniano Painting School. The book is full of everything from art and painting tips to stories of Tuscan life and, of course, Guinness’s recipes.
Below, find four of her favourites to give you a taste of Tuscany at home.
Roast peaches with bay and Grand Marnier cream
Serves 6
For the peaches:
60g blanched almonds
200ml Grand Marnier
60g brown sugar – plus extra,
for roasting the peaches
25ml olive oil
25ml maple syrup or runny honey
6 peaches, ripe but firm
4 bay leaves
For the cream:
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
250g double cream
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Preheat the oven to 200 °C/180 °C fan-forced.
Spread the almonds on a baking tray and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes, until they just start to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
Put the Grand Marnier and sugar in a small pan and set over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 5 minutes to burn off some of the alcohol. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the oil and maple syrup.
Cut each peach in half and remove the stone. Place the peach halves cut side up in an ovenproof dish and add the bay leaves. Pour the Grand Marnier syrup over the peaches, then sprinkle them with a little more sugar. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the liquid is bubbling and the tops of the peaches are browning.
Baste the peaches with the cooking liquid halfway through roasting.
In the meantime, mix the Grand Marnier and double cream in a bowl, and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Roughly chop the cooled almonds.
Remove the peaches from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature, with a spoonful of their sweet and sticky cooking liquid, a sprinkling of roasted almonds and a dollop of Grand Marnier cream.
Cardomom poached pears
Serves 6
Juice of 2 lemons
6 pears, ripe but firm
1 bottle hearty red wine
300g brown sugar
Juice of 2 oranges
Seeds from 20g cardamom pods (crack the pods to remove the seeds)
2 bay leaves
Crème fraîche, double cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 40 minutes
Add half the lemon juice to a bowl large enough to hold all the pears.
Put 200ml water and all the ingredients except for the pears into a large pan.
Gradually bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to ensure that the sugar dissolves completely. Once the poaching liquid is boiling, reduce the heat and allow to gently bubble away for 5 minutes, so that the alcohol evaporates.
Peel the pears (leaving the stems on), and trim 5mm from the bottom of each one so that it can stand up. Put each prepared pear in the bowl of lemon juice as you go, coating it in the juice to stop it turning brown.
Holding each one by its stem, gently lower the pears into the poaching liquid, then add the bowlful of lemon juice and bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover the pears with a sheet of baking parchment, pushing it down flat to the level of the liquid and pears. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and transfer the cooked pears to a plate, standing them upright on their trimmed base.
Set to one side.
Continue to simmer the poaching liquid, uncovered, for another 15 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by half. Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve, discarding the cardamom seeds and bay leaves, and then return it to the pan.
Add the pears to the pan and coat them in the thickened sauce.
Serve the pears warm. Place a tablespoon of your cream of choice in the centre of each serving bowl, before standing the pear on the dollop and drizzling with some of the sauce.
Fennel and orange salad
Serves 6
50g blanched hazelnuts
2 large fennel bulbs
2 oranges
30ml olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
A handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
Salt
Preparation: 15 minutes
Preheat your oven to 170 °C/150 °C fan-forced.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast them for 10 minutes, or until they start to smell nutty and are turning golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Prepare the fennel bulbs by tearing off any outer layers that are damaged or brown. Using a paring knife, peel away the woody bottom part of the bulbs, but don’t remove the fennel tops and fronds. Very finely slice the fennel bulbs lengthways. If you have a mandolin or a meat slicer, this step will be much easier and you will end up with gossamer-thin fennel ribbons, which not only are attractive but also have a lovely texture.
Peel the oranges and remove any pith, before using a very sharp knife to slice them into discs.
Roughly chop the cooled hazelnuts.
In a salad bowl, gently toss the fennel and oranges with the oil, lemon juice, mint and salt. Top with the chopped hazelnuts. Serve immediately.
Trofie with pesto and cherry tomatoes
Serves 5–6
150g basil leaves, stalks removed
50g pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt
150ml olive oil
100g parmesan, finely grated – plus extra, to serve
500g trofie (or your preferred short dry pasta)
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes
Put the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, a pinch of salt and the olive oil in a food processor. Blitz until you have a runny paste. Transfer to a bowl. (You can freeze your pesto at this stage, before adding the parmesan.) Using a spoon, mix the grated parmesan through the paste until thoroughly combined. Taste for seasoning, adjusting as necessary. If it looks a little dry, add another drizzle of oil, and stir again. This pesto sauce will keep in the fridge for up to three days, but is most vibrantly green when used fresh.
Bring a large pan of salted water to a vigorous boil. Add the trofie or your preferred pasta and cook until al dente. When the pasta is almost ready, spoon the pesto into a large serving dish or bowl.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the trofie to the serving dish and mix the pasta through the pesto, pouring over half a ladleful of the pasta cooking water if the pesto needs any help to thoroughly coat the pasta. Toss the cherry tomato halves through the pasta and serve immediately, with extra grated parmesan on the side.
This is an excerpt from A House Party in Tuscany: Recipes, Stories and Art from Arniano.