Stanley Tucci's Italian Taste Tour

Like many of our customers I’ve been glued to Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy TV series on food and culture. It highlights the delights of family dinners and how food brings us together. So, this week I thought I would share some of his ideas – which might be especially useful if you are doing a lot of cooking about now…

Each episode takes viewers on a tour of a specific region, and in each Tucci spends a bit of time with scholars and activists, discussing some aspect of the region’s history or politics or social strife. But mostly he eats, and talks about eating, and visits the farmers and producers and venders who provision his marvellous meals
 
Some of the food is complex – like the beer, coffee and cream risotto from the Michelin Starred chefs from Piedmont – from the Costardi Brothers (the recipe and video is here) but the truth is that most of the recipes are not complex – they just depend on great ingredients and some care and love on the making of them. That’s exactly what great food should be about and very much fits with our philosophy at Lidgates.
 
Here is a small selection of some of the easier dishes, but if you have time I’d highly recommend watching the series on the BBC’s iPlayer. (watch here)

Tagliatelle al ragù
This meat sauce (which some might refer to as Bolognese) tossed with silky ribbons of fresh tagliatelle is an indisputable Italian classic. In the Emilia-Romagna episode, Tucci enjoys it at Casa Artusi, named after the late and great Pellegrino Artusi. Here’s a great tagliatelle al ragù recipe.

Cotoletta alla Milanese
The Milanese-style veal cutlet is a must-eat in Milan. During the Lombardy episode, Tucci visits Ratanà restaurant where he prepares the dish with chef Cesare Battisti. Here’s our cotoletta alla Milanese recipe.
 
 
 
 

Delizia al Limone
Here’s Sal de Riso’s recipe for Delizia al Limone, an exquisite representation of the Amalfi Coast in the dessert form. The region's storied lemons, Limone Costa d’Amalfi PGI, are what makes the dessert so particular – if you can’t find them, Meyer lemons are a nifty substitute.