Cheers From Tuscany!
There is a long story behind this photo, but I am going to keep it short, simple and hopefully delicious. It’s all because of Brookford Cooking Diaries!
Jo Tracey has a great website that celebrates food all year long, and her latest concept called for us to share “holiday” food: recipes and dishes that we enjoyed on vacation – and boy do I have one for you from Cortona Italy!
Welcome To The Real “Under The Tuscan Sun” House!
Yes, if you know the terrific 2003 film starring Diane Lane, you know she renovates an old house in Cortona Italy…well, when the film was made, they actually took over an abandoned villa that she lived in as they filmed the scenes with her renovating, seeing the older man on the road outside…those are all real!
Why am I telling you this? Because my wife Alex and I spent a week there, renting out the entire villa for our friends – where we cooked and cooked and cooked – and learned to make an “imperfect pasta!”
First, here is the house – and the estate as well!
It was magical in every way – and we had our own Chef and support team to work with us on fun cooking opportunities. Chef Francesco cooked for us every day, and one day we made a wonderful lunch of “Pici” pasta, a local recipe!
Pici (pronounced PEE-chee) is a thick, rustic, hand-rolled pasta that originated in the Siena province of Tuscany. Thicker than traditional spaghetti, its charm lies in its irregular, imperfect shape, which is excellent for holding onto thick, hearty sauces.
And imperfect shapes is what we were about to achieve!
We all gathered around the kitchen table as Chef rolled out a massive ball of pasta dough he has prepared. Here’s a look:
Chef did the prep work, but then it was up to us to make our pasta – and it was so much fun!
Alex is rolling on the left, and that’s our good friend Chris doing this part as well…here’s how it looked all around the table:
While Alex worried her pasta was irregularly shaped, it is called “imperfect pasta” for a reason: it’s all good!
As you saw, we made the noodles, and Chef focused on some intensely flavored red sauce…and the best part is when Isabella showed up with the red wine!
Take a look:
As you can see, it was a festive day – after we made the pasta, Francesco added an incredibly intense red sauce and brought it to the table to great applause:
Chef then plated the dish and we all dug in!
Chef made the perfect dish: fresh Pici pasta covered with rich red sauce and a sprig of parsley on top of that – perfection…oh, and James chose the best way to enjoy it!
I chose my favorite shot: a long strand of pasta dangling high above the bowl…when Chef came out to check up on us, he gave him a glass of wine and toasted him!
We had such a great culinary adventure in Cortona – and there will be more to come…if you want to make Pici at home, just grab any dough recipe for pasta, make the big ball then roll it out and have fun!
And if you need a great red sauce recipe and don’t we all, I’ve go the best one:
Rao’s Marinara Sauce!
Rao’s is the legendary New York restaurant known for their delicious and very healthy sauces! The recipe for Rao’s Marinara sauce is simple – and it’s because the ingredients are meant for each other!
First, saute 3-4 tablespoons of minced onion in 1/4 cup of olive oil for 3 minutes, until it becomes translucent, then add two minced garlic cloves and cook for 3 more minutes.
Next up, dump into 2 28-ounce cans of imported plum tomatoes – I used whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, and the recipe says to smash them up a bit while cooking
After an hour or so, stir in 6 leaves of torn fresh basil, a pinch of Oregano, then set the sauce aside – it’s done!
I also replicated their famous meatball recipe – see how I did here:
Thanks to Jo for hosting this great series of cooking challenges – I love cooking on holiday! She got us started with a great recipe that she has enjoyed with her daughter over the years…
Check what Jo shared by clicking on her story here!
And since we were in Tuscany, we had to stop by Florence to get some wine from their iconic wine windows – here is one:
If you want more of their unique history, here’s that story:
Of course, we also ate in Florence, and that led us to the most famous steak palace in the city!
Regina Bistecca is legendary – and remember, they only serve the steak one way – so if you don’t like rare, you can’t have it!
And how rare is rare? Well, watch this!
An incredible presentation and amazing steak – click here to see the entire meal close up!
We stopped in Florence before heading to Cortona, home of the house used for filming in the classic romantic comedy “Under The Tuscan Sun!”
Here a look at the road outside the house – the one used extensively in the film:
Click here to get a tour inside with more video from inside the house and more!
The goal of “Bite! Eat! Repeat!” is to look at unique food, great food destinations, and lots of recipes as well…and yes, I am drawn to places that become famous on Instagram, like this one:
From the tiny alleyway packed with tables on the lower right to the incredible sunset, Mykonos Greece has it all and you can see it here:
If you like these stories, PLEASE CLICK THE “LIKE” BUTTON BELOW!
Better still, why not sign up to receive emails whenever I post? It’s easy to do, I DO NOT collect any information about you at all, there are absolutely NO ads of any kind, just stories about food, food travel and lots of recipes too!
You can sign up by clicking on my blog here and see the note on the right!
Thanks again to Jo for putting on another great cooking challenge…make sure to check out the entire series on her site!
If you like this story please share on social media – thanks!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Food, Food Travel, Recipes, Travel, Wacky Food, Wine, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
wow. Can I be your friend?!!
It was a great culinary adventure to be sure! We planned it for more than a year as part of our wedding anniversary…we invited friends to join us to make it a big celebration…many of them were at our wedding!
That looks like tremendous fun! I will bet that was the best pasta you’ve ever had..anything you make yourself is always the best. I am wanting to get into making pasta, do you know what kind of flour he used to make the dough?
Im not sure but when I checked online, here’s what I found: you can use either Italian “00” flour, all-purpose flour, or a combination of “00” and durum wheat semolina flour….I remember semolina was part of it I think
Thanks, I do have both flours so I will check it out.
Definitely a dream holiday, and shared with friends, even better!
Hi John, you do have some really great times. The meal looks and sounds fantastic 😋
Thank you for reading Robbie!
this looks like my kind of vacation, good friends, great country house, cooking, wine, fun, and imperfect pasta!~ wonderful!
Yes it was so much fun!
Can I just say wow and then… WOW! What an experience to stay there! And the pasta looks (and sounds) fab.
It was, until our recent safari, the greatest trip we’ve ever done…a full week in the house on the outskirts of Cortona with Siena, Montepulciano and so much more all around us!
Thank you for sharing this getaway from one of my favourite parts of the world. Have watched pici pasta being made on a number of food shows but have no personal experience with the same. Have been to the steakhouse in Florence tho’ 🙂 !
What an incredible and marvellous experience John! Such wonderful memories for you. And the food … (Not that I am a pasta girl but still … )
cheers
sherry https://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for the note…it was really fun and yes, pasta for life!