It is one of Italy's oldest regional cuisines and many of its dishes still retain their original recipes. Perhaps the most famous Florentine recipe in the world is the classic bistecca alla fiorentina. But well-known recipes are also ribollita, lampredotto and many others.
The classic Florentine hors d'oeuvre consists of crostini such as crostini neri, tomato and mushroom crostini, various cold cuts and mixed cheeses.
Let's start with the first courses.
Ribollita
Ingredients for ribollita for 4 people
300 grams of Tuscan bread (without salt), preferably at least 2 or 3 days old.
1 red onion
3 celery ribs
4 medium carrots
grams 700 cannellini beans
2 cloves of garlic
4 potatoes
1 bunch of black cabbage
grams 150 of cooked Swiss chard
half of a Savoy cabbage
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 ripe tomatoes
thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil to taste
1 sprig of rosemary
Preparing the ribollita
Cannellini beans should be used dried and soaked for at least 24 hours before preparation. However, cannellini beans already boiled can be found on the market.
However, whether you use the ones after soaking for 24 hours or the canned ones, they should be put in a rather large saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, the peeled and crushed clove of garlic and the sprig of rosemary. Add water to cover the beans and cook for at least an hour with a lid, adding a little water if necessary.
At the end of the cooking time, add salt and pepper and remove the garlic and rosemary sprig. One third of the beans remove them whole and set aside, blend the remaining beans with a blender to obtain a rather liquid sauce that you will put on while cooking the soup.
Now prepare the base for the stir-fry. Chop and finely chop the onion, celery ribs and carrots and cook the chopped mixture in olive oil for a few minutes until the vegetables are golden brown. Add the potatoes, which you have peeled and diced. Cook over a medium heat and then add the peeled, seeded and crushed tomatoes and the tablespoons of tomato paste.
Lastly, add the kale, Savoy cabbage and Swiss chard, chopped as finely as possible. Now add the bean sauce you have kept aside, put the lid on and let it cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if necessary. At the end of the cooking time, adjust the salt and pepper. Add the whole beans you have kept aside and remove from the heat.
Place a couple of slices of bread in the bottom of a soup tureen and pour in 2 or 3 ladles of soup, place a couple more slices of bread and more soup until the ingredients are finished.
Leave to cool and place the soup tureen in the fridge for at least a couple of hours. This will help the soup to firm up and the bread to absorb the ingredients. After this time, heat the soup in a saucepan and serve hot with a drizzle of olive oil, a few thyme leaves and, if you like, thin slices of fresh onion.
Florentine steak
The Florentine steak is the typical dish par excellence in Florence where it is cooked like a true cult. The most suitable animal for the Florentine steak is the Chianina beef. The classic steak is cut from the loin of a veal calf, to be precise from the fillet or sirloin, and is that piece of meat with the bone made in a T shape. It is cut quite thickly, at least 5 centimetres, and tradition dictates that it should be cooked over charcoal embers.
The meat must be taken out of the fridge at least 3 hours before cooking it, dried with paper towels and massaged with a little olive oil to prevent it from sticking to the grill, which must be red-hot when the steak is placed on it.
It should be cooked a few minutes on each side, about 5 or 6 and turned once. Turn it trying not to pierce it to prevent the juices from coming out. Put a little salt just as soon as it is brought to the table. When you cut the steak, you can see that it is brown on the outside and has a crispy surface, while inside it is a tender pinkish flesh.
Florentine-style tripe
Ingredients for Florentine-style tripe for 4 people
800 g ready-to-cook tripe cut into strips
1 carrot
1 small red onion
1 celery stalk
400 g peeled tomatoes, chopped
1 clove of garlic
a few leaves of fresh basil
half a glass of dry white wine
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper and olive oil to taste
butter to taste
meat stock to taste
grated Parmesan cheese as much as enough
Preparation of tripe Florentine style
Finely chop the celery rib, onion and carrot and brown the vegetables about ten minutes with a little oil and butter and the bay leaf.
In the meantime, wash the tripe well under running water and cook it in the fried vegetables for at least 5 minutes, stirring often. After this time, wet the tripe with half a glass of white wine, turn up the flame and let it evaporate completely. Add the peeled chopped tomatoes and cook for about an hour and a half, adding a little meat stock from time to time. When cooked, add a few basil leaves and serve very hot. Then season with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.
Lampredotto
Anyone visiting Florence cannot fail to notice the many kiosks on the streets displaying the classic
display the classic sandwich stuffed with lampredotto. Lampredotto is the stomach of a veal calf whose fat and lean parts are expertly cooked and served in sandwiches.
But we can also prepare it at home.
Needed for the lampredotto
1 lampredotto
3 celery rib
3 medium carrot
1 red onion
2 ripe tomatoes without skin and seeds
1 bunch of basil
1 bunch of parsley
3 cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Preparing the lampredotto
Wash the lampredotto very well under running water. In the meantime, put the vegetables (celery, onions and carrots) cut into small pieces, the tomatoes also cut into small pieces, the bunches of herbs and the cloves into a rather large pot. Cover everything with cold water and bring to the boil on the stove. Add the lampredotto and cook over a medium heat for about an hour from when the water is boiling. When it is cooked, remove the lampredotto from the water and cut it into thin slices. Slightly moisten the slices with the cooking water and serve at the table. Lampredotto is usually served with salsa verde or a spicy sauce.
Peposo alla fiorentina
This typical Florentine dish is very old, dating back to around the 14th century. and can be enjoyed in typical Florentine trattorias still in the original recipe.
Needed for the peposo alla fiorentina
600 grams of veal muscle cut into small pieces
3 or 4 glasses of red wine
5 cloves of garlic
1 bouquet of herbs consisting of sage and rosemary
3 or 4 bay leaves
4 medium ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons of black peppercorns
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to taste
Preparation of peposo alla fiorentina
Cut the meat into 2 to 3 centimetre pieces and place it in a large bowl together with the peeled and crushed garlic cloves, peppercorns and red wine. Allow the meat to marinate for about an hour.
At this point, transfer everything to a pot (tradition would have it be an earthenware pot) and put it on the stove with a little olive oil, adding the bouquet of herbs, the bay leaves, the tomatoes, skinned and seeded and chopped.
Adjust the salt and pepper and leave to simmer with the lid on for about 3 hours. After this time, serve very hot, accompanying the peposo with boiled cannellini beans seasoned with a pinch of salt and olive oil.
Let us now move on to the desserts.
Schiacciata alla fiorentina
This is a creamy, soft cake that is usually made during the carnival period. Tradition has it that the symbol of Florence, the lily, is reproduced on the surface of the cake with icing sugar.
Needed for the schiacciata alla fiorentina
grams 150 of sugar
grams 250 of flour
2 eggs
grams 60 of olive oil
1 orange
grams 60 of whole milk
1 sachet of baking powder
1 sachet of vanillin
salt to taste
Preparation of the schiacciata alla fiorentina
Beat the eggs with the sugar for a long time (preferably with an electric mixer) until the mixture is frothy and doubles in volume. Slowly add the oil and milk while continuing to mix.
Now add the juice of one orange and slowly incorporate the flour, the grated peel of one orange, the sachet of baking powder and the sachet of vanillin. Add a pinch of salt and mix everything well.
Put the mixture into a 26 cm cake tin and then into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes. To check the baking it is always good to do the toothpick test. Take a toothpick and insert it into the cake, if it comes out dry the cake is cooked.
Dust the schiacciata with icing sugar.
The zuccotto
The exact reason why this cake is called this is not very clear. Surely it is because of its shape, one half of a sphere, but some say it refers to the helmet worn by infantry in the 15th century that was called zuccotto. Others, however, refer to the headgear of high prelates.
Needed for the zuccotto sponge cake
grams 80 of flour
grams 130 of sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
grams 20 of butter at room temperature
the zest of half a lemon grated
1 sachet of vanillin powder
a little alkermes liqueur
What is needed for the zuccotto filling
500 grams whipping cream
grams 20 of bitter cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
enough sugar
chocolate chips
Preparation of the sponge cake for the zuccotto
Beat the eggs well with the sugar until frothy, then add the flour and incorporate slowly. In the meantime, melt the butter and let it cool before adding it to the mixture together with the grated lemon peel and the sachet of vanillin powder. Put the mixture into a 24 cm cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes. Once removed from the oven, leave to cool completely.
Preparing the filling for the zuccotto
Divide the whipping cream into two parts. We start whipping the first half by adding the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of sugar. We then whip the second half of the cream by adding the bitter cocoa and sugar, about 1 or 2 tablespoons depending on personal taste.
Take the sponge cake and cut it into slices of about 1 centimetre, with which we are going to line a zuccotto mould or a hemispherical mould, where we will have first placed a sheet of baking paper. Brush the surface of the sponge cake with alchermes liqueur.
Pour the whipped cream part with the chocolate chips inside and create a hollow in which to put the cream part with the cocoa. Close the surface with a layer of sponge cake soaked in alkermes liqueur and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.
A tasty variation involves replacing the whipped cream filling with sheep's milk ricotta, which is sweetened and filled with candied fruit.
Once removed from the refrigerator, it should be turned upside down onto a serving plate and put icing sugar or cocoa powder on top and garnished with liquid chocolate and slivers of chopped almonds or hazelnuts.
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