Florence culinary tour 5th stage: appetizers

Curiosities and recipes of two appetizers for a Florence-themed aperitivo: crostini di fegatini and Florentine courgette salad.

Continue our culinary tour with the perfect episode for hot summer evenings. Here are the delicious appetizers to accompany a soft drink, beer, or a crisp glass of wine.

For you, together with our chef Agnese Pugi (on Instagram with recipes in Italian and English), we have chosen two true Florentine treats: the starter par excellence that is present on every menu in the city, the one and only crostino nero or crostino di fegatini (liver). The other is a vegetarian, fresh and more original alternative to welcome your friends properly: a zucchine fiorentine (Florentine courgettes) salad.

CURIOSITY

CROSTINO DI FEGATINI: like many typically Florentine dishes, crostino nero comes from the popular use of offal as an alternative source of protein to the fine cuts that only the nobility could afford. In this case, we are talking about chicken livers and chicken hearts cooked and flavored (as we see in the recipe) to obtain an exquisite mixture that soaks hardened bread. Et voila, the crostino!
ZUCCHINA FIORENTINA: The Florentine courgette has an elongated shape, can be either a light or dark green, and is striped. It is gathered and sold along with its flower and is appreciated for its flavor and the tender consistency of the pulp. It’s harvested while still small (15-20 cm), early in the morning when the flower is still open, a feature that differentiates it from other zucchini.

Photo credits: https://www.genuinopuntozero.it/prodotto/zucchine-fiorentine-bio/

AGNESE’S RECIPES

Here’s what Agnese tells us about the valuable recipes we are about to discover:

“I have chosen two of my recipes that I am very fond of; the first is the classic chicken liver crostino that is essential for all our aperitifs/appetizers. The other is a salad of Florentine courgettes that, although very simple, is always a great success especially because it’s fresh and easy to make! At the end of the recipe, I have added small variations to make the dishes richer!”

CROSTINI DI FEGATINI

Serves 4

500gr of liver and chicken hearts
100gr of butter + 50/100gr
4 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
6 sage leaves
1 large glass of Vinsanto
N° 6 drained anchovies in oil or 1/3 of an anchovy paste tube
40gr of salted capers rinsed well
2 glasses of vegetable broth
Salt and pepper

In a high-sided pan, melt the butter (the first 100g); add the shallots and the cloves of garlic cut into thin slices. Leave to cook on medium heat for 10/15 minutes.
Rinse the livers and chicken hearts very well, remove the white and/or green parts (if any) which tend to make the mixture bitter and then cut roughly into pieces. Add to the pan with the garlic and shallots and regularly turn.
When all the pieces of chicken have "changed color", add the Vinsanto and mix.
When the alcohol has completely evaporated, add the capers, anchovies, sage, salt, pepper and vegetable broth. Leave to cook until the mixture is creamy, it will take about 25/30 minutes.
Blend with a mixer and add 50 or 100gr of butter according to taste (add the butter into the mixer when the mixture is still hot, it will melt while being blended and make the mixture very creamy).

The mixture is traditionally served with slices of lightly toasted Tuscan bread, but it also goes very well with fried polenta croutons!

Photo credits: https://www.ifood.it/ricette/2019/01/crostini-toscani-2.html

FLORENTINE ZUCCHINE SALAD WITH RICOTTA DI BUFALA MANTECATA AND SESAME SEEDS

Serves 4

5 medium sized Florentine courgettes
250gr of buffalo ricotta
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
Lemon peel
3 slices of wholemeal bread
Extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, basil

Cut the whole wheat bread into cubes (including the crust), season with salt, extra virgin olive oil and thyme and stir-fry until the bread is crispy. Put aside.
Wash the courgettes well and cut them into long, thin slices (the slices must be quite thin, if you are not very practical with a knife use a potato peeler or a vegetable grater).
Season the courgettes with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped basil with your hands and leave aside to marinate for a maximum of 7/10 minutes (no more, otherwise the courgettes become too soft).
Toast the sesame seeds in a pan without oil and set aside to cool.
Drain the buffalo ricotta, if necessary, and transfer it to a bowl and add salt, extra virgin olive oil, pepper and lemon zest.
Arrange a portion of the zucchini salad on a plate, add the creamed buffalo ricotta here and there with the help of a spoon, sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and the crispy bread cubes, and serve.

This vegetarian appetizer is perfect for summer: fast, tasty, light and doesn’t require any cooking! To make it richer, here are some variations:

for a fish appetizer, you can add drained and chopped anchovies in oil using your hands, or grated bottarga on top.
for a meaty dish you can add excellent quality prosciutto crudo or crispy bacon (turned in a hot pan until until just before it becomes crispy and then broken up with your hands).
to keep it vegetarian but to make it a richer dish, you can add pitted Taggiasca olives, capers and dried tomatoes in oil, cut into strips.