Take a trip to the culinary delights of Tuscany's rolling hills without ever leaving your kitchen.
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Simply Recipes / Sheryl Julian
Many of the regional cuisines of Italy are known and loved outside of the country, with specific dishes like Lazian spaghetti alla carbonara, Emilia-Romagna's lasagna Bolognese, Sicilian pasta alla Norma, and, more recently, Puglian spaghetti all'assassina becoming just as much a part of the American home cook's canon as the Italian American favorites spaghetti and meataballs and baked ziti.
So if you're a fan of Italian cuisine, you've probably also seen "Tuscan" attached to a variety of dishes, from Tuscan chicken to Tuscan bean soup, Tuscan bread salad to Tuscan steak. But what exactly makes a recipe Tuscan?
Tuscany is a region in central Italy (Florence is its capital) known for simplicity and seasonality in their cuisine. Many of the dishes stem from cucina povera (aka peasant cuisine), so you'll see a lot of legumes, fresh seasonal vegetables (as vegetables are cheapest when in season), recipes that use stale bread as a core ingredient, and straightforward flavors as opposed to complex mixes of herbs and spices. When you think Tuscan food or see a recipe labeled "Tuscan" on a menu, you should think simple, seasonal, high quality ingredients that speak for themselves. Or, you can just turn to the recipes below, and let them do the thinking for you!
Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
Get Recipe: Creamy Tuscan Chicken
"Sun-dried tomatoes come in two forms: oil-packed and dried. Oil-packed are more common in grocery stores, are packed in oil, and sold either whole or thinly sliced in jars. Sun-dried tomatoes are sold in containers or bags that are often vacuum-sealed to keep them from drying out too much and becoming tough. Either works in this recipe." —Sheela Prakash, Recipe Developer
Acquacotta (Tuscan Soup)
Simply Recipes / Karishma Pradhan
Get Recipe: The Simple Tuscan Soup I’m Making All Winter Long
"When fresh tomatoes are in season, they're a great substitute for the canned version." —Karishma Pradhan, Recipe Developer
Easy Tuscan Ribollita Soup
Simply Recipes / Shilpa Iyer
Get Recipe: Easy Tuscan Ribollita Soup
"To make a hearty soup even heartier, mix in leftover shredded or cubed chicken, or add crisped-up bacon, guanciale, or Italian sausage." —Devan Grimsrud, Recipe Developer
Tuscan Scrambled Eggs
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Get Recipe: Tuscan Scrambled Eggs
"The trick to this recipe is to simmer the tomato and onion sauce for at least a half an hour before adding the eggs." —Elise Bauer, Founder
15-Minute Tuscan-Style Beans
Simply Recipes / Jessica Furniss
Get Recipe: The 15-Minute Dinner I Make Every Week
"When choosing beans, I recommend steering clear of the low-sodium ones for this recipe. The salt in the beans helps to season the dish. Low-sodium beans can work in a pinch, you’ll just need to adjust the salt called for in the recipe." —Jessica Furniss, Recipe Developer
Ina Garten's Tuscan Lemon Chicken
Simply Recipes / Myo Quinn
Get Recipe: I’ve Been Making Ina Garten’s Tuscan Chicken for 15 Years—It’s Impossible to Mess Up
"Ina's original recipe asks you to snip the spine off the chicken, flatten it, and fire up the grill. Before you run in the opposite direction, know that I too have no time for culinary shenanigans, so I use whole chicken legs instead and opt for roasting in the oven." —Myo Quinn, Contributor
Zuppa Toscana
Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek
Get Recipe: This Easy Tuscan Soup Tastes Better Than the Olive Garden Classic
"This Zuppa Toscana is especially delicious with crusty bread. You can serve some toasted, olive oil-drizzled bread for dunking, or you can make some quick homemade croutons for garnish. I’ve been eating bowlfuls topped with a handful of everything croutons." —Nick Evans, Recipe Developer
Ravioli Gnudi (Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings)
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
Get Recipe: The Classic Italian Family Recipe You Need To Make
"Ravioli gnudi freezes remarkably well. Fun fact: you can drop the fully frozen gnudi right into the boiling water to cook; they may just take an extra minute or two to float." —Sara Haas, Recipe Developer
Ina Garten's Tuscan Bean Soup
Simply Recipes / Myo Quinn
Get Recipe: I’ve Been Making Ina Garten’s Tuscan Soup For Over 10 Winters—It's Still My Favorite
"To make Ina's soup vegetarian, omit the pancetta, chicken stock (obviously!), and the Parmesan (it contains animal rennet). Use a hearty vegetable stock and stir in two tablespoons of nutritional yeast before serving." —Myo Quinn, Contributor
Sautéed Greens With Pine Nuts and Raisins
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Get Recipe: Sautéed Greens With Pine Nuts and Raisins
To keep this more in line with the Tuscan kitchen, omit the raisins and use Tuscan kale.
Easy Tuscan Bean Soup
Simply Recipes / Sheryl Julian
Get Recipe: Easy Tuscan Bean Soup
"To make sure your soup has that appealing "simmered all day" quality when using canned beans, just mash some of the beans before they go into the pot. This will give your soup the slightly distressed texture that a good bean soup should have." —Sheryl Julian, Recipe Developer
Panzanella Bread Salad
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Get Recipe: Panzanella Bread Salad
"For a version with a little more protein, try folding in some chickpeas, shredded or grilled chicken, or topping the salad with chopped hard boiled eggs right before serving." —Elise Bauer, Founder
Italian Butter Chicken (Petti Di Pollo al Burro)
Simply Recipes / Hannah Zimmerman
Get Recipe: Italian Butter Chicken (Petti Di Pollo al Burro)
"The only part of this recipe that can get a little tricky is the brown butter. If you don’t watch it closely, it will burn. Make sure to put the chicken breasts in the skillet when the butter is just starting to foam. The milk solids won't be brown yet at that point, but they will brown as the chicken cooks." —Hannah Zimmerman
Tomato and Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro)
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Get Recipe: Tomato and Bread Soup (Pappa al Pomodoro)
"Even though it's a tomato soup, you don't have to wait until August or September to enjoy it! Canned tomatoes, harvested at peak season, work beautifully in this soup." —Elise Bauer, Founder
Homemade Tagliatelle
Simply Recipes / Karishma Pradhan
"While this recipe focuses on making tagliatelle with a pasta machine, you can make it without one. You will need a good rolling pin and a bit of muscle, but it's a really rewarding process to roll out the dough by hand. Once the dough has been rolled out into a thin sheet, you stack and cut it like you would with the pasta machine." —Karishma Pradhan, Recipe Developer
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