When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to cook peposo (traditional Tuscan stew) in her old terracotta pot, and the aroma of spices and Chianti wine would fill the whole kitchen. I would run home from school, my heart racing, eager to taste that wonderful dish.

Today, after years of studying at the Italian Culinary Academy and gaining experience as a professional chef, I’ve revisited this classic Tuscan stew, bringing it to the table with my personal touch while preserving its rustic and comforting soul.

During my cooking classes in Tuscany and the private dinners I prepare in villas and B&Bs across the region, I take my guests on a journey through authentic flavors and the stories behind the recipes I loved as a child.

During my 3-day full immersion cooking experience in Tuscany, guests learn how to prepare Peposo Traditional Tuscan Stew from scratch, just like in my family kitchen.

Peposo is one of my favorite dishes: the tenderness of beef, slowly cooked with Chianti and a blend of aromatic spices, creates a perfect balance of fragrance and flavor in this

Peposo Traditional Tuscan Stew

It’s impossible not to fall in love with it: the pepper gently tickling the tongue, the aroma of cinnamon and star anise enveloping the meat, the creamy sauce embracing mashed potatoes… this Peposo Traditional Tuscan Stew is more than food; it’s an experience, a memory, an emotion.

Peposo Traditional Tuscan Stew

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2.2 lbs (1 kg) beef shank or chuck

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tbsp (1 cucchiaio) extra virgin olive oil

• 1 small knob butter (1 noce di burro)

• 3 bay leaves, torn

• 1 sprig of sage (5-6 leaves)

• 1 tbsp (1 cucchiaio) juniper berries

• 1 tbsp (1 cucchiaio) whole black pepper

• 1 tbsp (1 cucchiaio) freshly ground black pepper

• 1 star anise

• 5 cloves, only the round heads

• 1 cinnamon stick, halved or 1 tsp (1 cucchiaino) ground cinnamon

• 3 cups (750 ml) Chianti or dry red wine

• 1 cup (250 ml) water, more if needed

• Salt to taste

• Flour for dredging the beef

• Mashed potatoes, for serving

Instructions

1. In a terracotta pot (or a heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot), heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft.

2. Add the butter.

3. Dredge the beef in flour, shake off excess, and brown lightly on all sides in the pot.

4. Add bay leaves, sage, juniper berries, whole and ground black pepper, star anise, cloves, and cinnamon. Stir to combine with the meat and onion.

5. Pour in the wine and water, stir, and bring to a boil.

6. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer slowly for about 2 hours or more, stirring occasionally and adding wine or water if necessary, until the meat is tender and a thick sauce forms.

7. Season with salt at the end, stir, and turn off the heat.

8. Serve hot, preferably with creamy mashed potatoes.

L'articolo Peposo Traditional Tuscan Stew | Tuscany Cooking Classes proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

Last Summer, running some Cooking Classes in Tuscany with some students from U.S.A., I thought the first time to this dessert.

cooking class in Tuscany: how making a chic and fast dessert

In fact, while tasting some “savoiardi” (Italian for ladyfingers), someone told me about his love for Amaretti cookies and Amaretto di Saronno liqueur. Since that moment I decided to create a dessert in a glass with a layer of amaretti crumbles.

I made it the first time for Christmas lunch at my home. My mum and brother live in Grosseto, South of Tuscany, and here in Pisa I have my father and my stepmother; it’s so difficult to be all together and when there’s a special occasion I always take the advantage to invite everyone at my home. So I prepared the Mascarpone Cream with Amaretti Crumbles and dark chocolate flakes for 8 people in total and this is the same dose in the below recipe.

It’s an easy and fast recipe at all, but definitely gorgeous and you can imagine how tasteful and luxurious. In a few words, this is a dessert that will wow your friends or everyone who’ll taste it. Because of its elegant and beautiful aspect, I recommend to make it on a special occasion.

Because of its easiness and speed, I’ll definitely add this to the Private Cooking Classes in Tuscany Menu, our students can make it with no problem even if at their Holiday Homes.
Nowadays the most successful dessert in cooking classes is the Tiramisu and I’m so happy when my students post some pictures on Facebook or Instagram about some recipes that they made during their Summer cooking classes in Tuscany, when everything is easier: it’s a way to remind the cheerfulness and spirit of some memories in Tuscany. It’s a way to keep in touch and I think is the best way to use Social Networks as well.

Margot, a friend from Nederlands, posted her Tiramisu pictures right some days ago, and some guys from the USA made the same with their Italian Menu Soirée; click Here to see our Facebook Album with some pictures and dishes from our students once at home.

As I told you this dessert is very similar to Tiramisu (the cream is the same!) and it’s a very quick one.

I love spoon-desserts and the same is for our customers and students; click on the name of the following desserts which you can make in our cooking school in Tuscany: Bavarese, Zuppa Inglese, Zuccotto Toscano, Sicilian Cassata

I’m often looking for easy and fast recipes since they’ve to be suitable both for Private Dinners in Tuscany and Private Cookery Courses. In fact, as Private Chef than as Cooking Classes coach, in our itinerant restaurant and cooking school, we prepare everything from scratch, and on the spot…that’s no possible when the meal is complex and requires long preparation.

As my granny often said: A homemade meal, prepared from scratch, even if simple it tastes delicious and is inevitably made with love!

Especially in Tuscany, a tourist often goes home after visiting our sites, regretting not having been able to truly savor the taste of their favorite Tuscan dish; this is impossible after a fully hands-on Cooking Class and bringing at home the recipes from this Italian cookery class.

The goal of my job as Cooking Coach and Personal Chef is in fact to offer:

• the chance to learn to cook and to be able to enjoy  it whenever you want

• a cooking class authentic experience; only fresh and seasonal ingredients, local produce

Just some tips to follow:

1. It’s necessary to have some glasses or glass bowls where to put it. You’ve to see the layers, that’s why is so nice. Since I had porcelain cups and just a few glasses for dessert, I used the glass container from Ikea candles and it turned out very well because it’s better to have something larger on the top.
2. Soak very slowly Amaretti crumbles with the Coffee and Amaretto di Saronno moisture, pouring this one from the top a bit at a time, waiting that amaretti crumbles have absorbed all the liquid. This is a very important step, otherwise, you could risk obtaining a too wet layer of cookies and they’d lose their crispness.
3. Apart from making a cream with the right texture, that’s the most important thing, the chocolate will be the touch giving a particular added value to your dessert. Buy a very good quality one, it represents the starting and ending note of flavor while tasting the dessert. I bought a semisweet one with coffee powder inside, the flavor is fantastic and it recalls the coffee that you can taste at the last layer of the dessert.
4. Buy Amaretti di Saronno cookies; click HERE to buy on Amazon
5. Buy the original Amaretto di Saronno liqueur 

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L'articolo cooking classes in tuscany and private chef at your holiday home: mascarpone cream and amaretti crumbles in a glass, quick, easy and chic dessert proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.