Tuscan Cuisine: Winter Dishes

If you visit Tuscany during the months of November and December you must try some of the following typical winter dishes that good local restaurants offer.

1. The Ribollita

This is a récipe that comes from poor Tuscan cuising, as the base of its ingredients are different vegetables, beans and dried bread. Some restaurants to add a bit more flavor add pork products like sausage or ham.

2. The White Truffle (La Trufa Blanca)

The white truffle is typical of winter; this tasty “tubérculo” is found throughout most of the year in Tuscany in its most common form, the black truffle. However, in winter during the coldest months of the year you can enjoy the white, which is much more expensive and more delicate in flavour. The white truffle is eaten with “fettuccine”, with fried eggs and sometimes with fresh cheeses such as mascarpone.

3. Pasta e Ceci

This is another typical dish of Tuscan cuisine during the winter months, pasta with chickpeas (ceci in Italian) is one of the best of the peasant foods.

4. The bruschetta with l’Olio Nuovo

Bruschetta (toasted bread) with extra virgin olive oil is a typical dish of this season. For lovers of oil this will be a real pleasure.

Anyway, I will leave you with a nice Italian video that explains how to make Ribollita.