Italian Cooking amore mio (II)... cantuccini and pere al vino rosso

It was the last lesson. I thought they could enjoy a dessert. Like in a menu. First course, second course and... then... at the end ... the dessert. I kept on thinking... and thinking that Tiramisù is actually the most popular dessert all over the world. Is that really so? Is really tiramisù the most popular dessert outside Italy? Who knows.... well I wanted to do something different and nit disappoint their expectations. So I thought to show them how to make cantuccini from Tuscany and as I love pears and as it is almost winter here ... wee the pears in red wine sauce. They liked the challenge as always! Really great from them!
The recipe we used is actually my own revised version (...) of the original recipe...
(This is something ... when you live outside Italy... "The original recipe"... )

Cantuccini Toscani (from Prato actually... to be precise)

Ingredients for four serves

• 400gr flour
• 180 g. Sugar
• 125g Butter at room temperature
• 3 Eggs
• 100 g. Almonds
• 1 Teaspoon orange flavour or the peel of a whole orange
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg yolk to spread on top of cantuccini

Preheat the oven at 180°.
Mix well, with a fork, all the ingredients beside the almonds in a large bowl.
When the ingredients are well blended add the almonds a bit crushed.
The dough should be like a ball.
Put the dough onto a lightly buttered oven tray.
Press down gently with the palm of your hand to flatten it.
Using a brush spread some egg yolk on top of it.

Cook at 180°/200°C for 20-25 minutes until it is became golden brown.

Let them cool down a bit then, on a cutting board, cut them diagonally into slices 1-1,5 cm thick. Now they look like the cantuccini you have in your mind, but they need to be toasted, as they need to be crispy.Put back your cantuccini in the baking tray with one of the cutted side up. Bake the cantuccini until they are well toasted.

Let them cool down completely and serve them with some Vin Santo, with some tea, dipped in hot chocolate, is up to you taste. You can preserve them, well closed in a tin... like a biscuits tin.


They were really very good... they smelled of crispy ... tuscanian sunflowers...

After those we dived into ... the red wine. The spices gave a touch of "Christmas"... of winter actually...

Pere al vino rosso con mascarpone
Pears in red wine with mascarpone Ingredients for four serves

• 8 pears
• 5 dl of red wine
• 80gr of demera sugar (brown a sugar)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves
• skin of 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons of mascarpone

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Simmer, covered, until the pears are al dente (tender-crisp). Remove the fruit & separate into serving dishes; pour syrup over. Add the mascarpone.