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Christmas edition of the culinary tour! - Florentine menu

Traditional recipes revisited to dish up a delicious Florentine menu this Christmas.

We conclude our culinary tour with a bang by presenting you with a complete Florentine menu to serve on Christmas day or New Years' Eve to celebrate in a novel way with typical local flavours. We take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful Christmas with your loved ones.

The recipes are by chef Agnese Pugi, who always accompanies us on our culinary tours. Follow her on Instagram for many more recipes!

Credits foto: https://farinalievitoefantasia.it/food-experience/la-tavola-natale-le-ricette-perfette.html

Delicious Crespelle alla Fiorentina
Serves 4 

For the crespelle (pancakes):
  • 2 eggs
  • 200 ml milk
  • 2 heaped tablespoons of flour
  • 20 g of butter to grease the pan
  • a pinch of salt

For the filling:
  • 200 gr of sheep's milk ricotta
  • black cabbage (about 350/400 gr) taken from the centre, blanched and chopped with a knife
  • 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
  • nutmeg, salt and pepper

For the béchamel sauce:
  • 50 gr butter
  • 50 gr flour
  • 500 ml milk
  • nutmeg
  • salt

For the porcini mushroom sauce:
  • 500 gr diced porcini mushrooms
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • a sprig of calamint or thyme
  • salt and pepper

Credits foto: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/fresh-pasta/crespelle-alla-fiorentina

  1. Let's prepare the batter for the crespelle. Beat the eggs with the salt and flour and add the milk gradually. It must be a smooth batter, without any lumps! Let it rest in the fridge while we prepare the filling and the dressing.

  2. For the filling, add the black cabbage and the previously mashed ricotta, using a fork. Combine the grated parmesan, grate some nutmeg, and add salt. Cover the mixture with cling film and leave to season.

  3. Let's prepare the béchamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir with a whisk, heating for a few minutes. Add the hot milk a little at a time to start with, and add the remaining liquid, mixing well with a whisk and cooking over low heat for a few minutes until the sauce begins to become consistent. Now add salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.

  4. The sauce must not be too thick. 

  5. Now let's make the mushroom sauce: fry the garlic cloves in a pan with oil. Add the diced porcini mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cook for 20/30 minutes.

  6. Let’s make the crespelle. Grease a non-stick pan with a little butter. Pour a ladle of batter and cook over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes until the surface appears golden. Flip to the other side with the help of a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes. Proceed in the same way until the batter is used up.

  7. Spread the crespelle on the work surface and with the help of a spoon spread the black cabbage and ricotta filling on each one. Roll them up to create cannoli shapes, or if you prefer we can fold into crespelle a fazzoletto: first in half and then in half again.
         
  8. Grease a rectangular dish that’s suitable for cooking in the oven with a little butter. Spread a few spoonsful of béchamel sauce and add a little porcini sauce on the bottom. Place the crespelle on top and season with what remains of the béchamel and mushroom sauce. Then sprinkle the entire surface with grated parmesan.

  9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the surface is golden brown.

Credits foto: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/fresh-pasta/crespelle-alla-fiorentina

Arista with apples and chestnuts
Serves 4/5

  • 1 / 1.2 kg pork loin
  • 4 golden apples
  • 100 gr of cooked and peeled chestnuts
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 sprig of sage and 1 of rosemary
  • 3 tablespoons of honey
  • 3 tablespoons of mustard seeds
  • salt and pepper

Credits foto: https://blog.giallozafferano.it/valeriaciccotti/filetto-di-maiale-con-mele-e-castagne/

  1. Using a knife with a long and thin blade, make a cut in the centre of the pork loin along the entire length of the meat. Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces (keep a chopped apple for the sauce), chop the chestnuts and mix together with the apples. Put the filling into the cut in the pork loin (try to fill it well, the more filling there will be, the tastier the dish). If we can't get all the mixture in, let's keep it aside for later. Tie the pork loin and season with salt and pepper.

  2. Create a mixture with honey and mustard and spread this mixture on the meat. Arrange the peeled garlic, the peeled and chopped shallots, the chopped apple, sage and rosemary in an oven dish with high sides. If some filling is left over, put it in the pan, it will give even more taste!

  3. Place the meat in the pan, add a little oil and bake at 200°C for 15/20 minutes. Lower the oven to 180°C and continue to cook for a further hour.

  4. Once cooked, remove the meat from the pan and cover it in tin foil (this step helps to maintain the meat’s moisture) for 10/15 minutes. In the meantime, remove the rosemary and sage from the pan, collect the sauce in a tall container and blend using a blender until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Heat this sauce in a saucepan, cut the meat into not-too-thin slices and pour over the sauce.

Credits foto: https://lovelifelunch.it/2020/01/arista-di-maiale-con-mele-e-castagne-glassata-al-miele.html

Sformatini al panettone
Serves 5

  • 150 gr of panettone
  • 80 gr of white chocolate
  • 30 g orange liqueur (optional)
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 100 gr of butter
  • 50 grams of flour
  • 70 grams of sugar

Credits foto: http://siulagolosa.blogspot.com/2013/01/sformatino-di-panettone-e-cioccolato.html

  1. Melt the white chocolate and butter in a bain-marie.

  2. Beat the egg whites and egg yolks with the sugar and combine with the melted chocolate and butter.

  3. Cut the panettone into cubes and add a dash of the liqueur (optional).

  4. Add the sifted flour and the panettone. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

  5. Grease and flour the single-portion moulds and fill them nearly to the top.

  6. Cook at 180°C for 15/20 minutes. Serve the pies with gelato alla crema (vanilla ice cream) or zabaglione.

Credits foto: https://blog.giallozafferano.it/noneunacasapermagri/sformato-di-panettone/