Florentine Christmas
by Ippolita Douglas Scotti:
Christmas is such a happy day, and in Florence, our families gather for a great banquet of traditional Christmas dishes. Almost every dish is served with red wine. Wine is so important to us, and there is no celebration without a toast with hearty red wine or some “bollicine”—sparkling white wine.
Of course, the most important toast is made at the end of the meal with glasses full of Spumante and Prosecco—perfect to drink at the end of the feast with the panettone—the typical Italian Christmas cake.
Please enjoy these traditional Florentine Christmas recipes . . . and Buon Natale!
Crostini Toscani
Tuscan Chicken Liver Crostini
17 oz. (500 grams) chicken livers
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Tuscan bread or homemade bread
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1.5 oz. (40 grams) pickled capers
10 oz. (300 ml) chicken stock
½ glass of white wine
½ carrot, finely chopped
½ stalk of celery, finely chopped
3 anchovy fillets in oil
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
Sauté the onion, celery, and carrot with the oil, add the chicken livers, cook for 5 minutes over a gentle fire, turning them often with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle with wine and let it evaporate. Add salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes, wetting, if necessary, with half of the stock.
Place the livers in a food processor with the vegetables, adding capers and anchovy fillets. Blend until creamy and velvety.
Put chicken liver cream in the pan and add the tomato paste, stock, and salt.
Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Toast the slices of Tuscan bread, spread the warm cream of livers on each slice.
Serve with a good glass of red wine—a Chianti or Brunello.
Agnolotti alla Fiorentina
Spinach Gnocchi
For the dough:
200 g of wheat flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of warm water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
For the stuffing:
18 oz. (500 grams) of minced beef
7 oz. (250 grams) of spinach, washed well, stalks removed
1 egg
2 oz. (50 grams) Gruyere cheese
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 glass of white wine
4 tablespoons of tomato sauce
Salt & pepper
Nutmeg
Brown the "soffritto" (onion, carrot, celery) in the oil with the ground meat. Add the wine. Let the liquid evaporate. Add the tomato sauce and a good ladle of salted water to the mixture. Cover and cook very gently for an hour.
Boil the spinach in a small amount of water until tender (4–5 minutes). Drain well. When cool, squeeze out all the moisture. Chop finely. Add the spinach to the meat mixture.
Add an egg, grated cheese, and nutmeg and pepper, mix well, and set aside as you prepare the pasta.
For the pasta: Form a well in the flour. Add the eggs, whisking them with a fork until blended. Gradually incorporate the flour to the center to form a smooth dough. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Use a rolling pin or pasta machine to create a thin sheet of dough.
Place approx. 1 tablespoon of meat/spinach mixture every 1.5–2 inches apart on the upper half of the dough. Gently fold the bottom half of the pastry over the filling side. With wet fingers, seal the areas around the heaps of stuffing, carefully squeezing the dough around the filling to remove the air. Use a knife to cut out the "agnolotti."
Gently add the agnolotti to boiling, salted water for approx. 5 minutes, and then remove with a slotted spoon.
Divide the agnolotti onto plates and top with the leftover meat sauce.
Cinghiale in Dolceforte
Tuscan Wild Boar Stew with Chocolate
For the marinade:
2 cups red wine
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar