As you know, Italians love their food, so you can imagine that there will be more dishes on an Italian wedding menu than on your standard wedding menu.
Tuscan wedding menus are usually structured as follows:
– canapés -an assortment of various starters
– two first courses (usually pasta, rice or ravioli)
– two main dishes
– side dishes
– Wedding cake
– Tuscan coffee and digestive liqueurs
As in many rural areas of Italy, Tuscan farmers in the past did not have much meat available, so they used a lot of legumes and vegetables in their diet and did not even contemplate throwing away leftover bread. Food was primarily seen as a gift from Mother Earth. Panzanella for example is a cold bread salad made with pieces of bread, tomatoes, onions and basil. Many delicious recipes are purely vegan! You will really be amazed at the number of traditional Tuscan vegetarian dishes to choose from.
Let’s take a look one by one. Let me emphasize one thing first. The freshness of the ingredients is always something to look for. Weddings are usually held in hot weather, so there are plenty of great options in terms of vegetables, too.
SOFAS
Tuscany offers a variety of them.
Canapés are normally a rich variety of different antipasti served buffet style.
In summer tomatoes, courgettes and aubergines are at their best, so I personally suggest including
Bruschettas with fresh tomatoes and basil or crostini, a type of small bruschetta made with unsalted Tuscan bread, with sautéed courgettes and aubergines. Delicious, delicious, delicious!
Not many people know that courgettes also produce a flower. This is an edible flower and is widely used in Tuscan summer recipes. One way to eat a zucchini flower is to fry it. This is a true Tuscan delicacy! Zucchini flowers are only available in summer.
If you eat cheese, Tuscan pecorino is another great ingredient for canapés. This can be served plain or with honey mustard sauces. This is how Italians like to savor their cheese.
Tomatoes seem to be the king of summer, so feel free to add this ingredient as much as you like, in addition to bruschettas, as you won’t be disappointed with the end result. Panzanella as described above is a delicious salad where the flavor of the fresh tomatoes and basil really come to the fore. Even little things like cheese-stuffed cherry tomatoes can make a big difference to canapés.
FIRST COURSES
Well, this is pasta time! Ravioli with fresh ripe tomatoes seasoned with the most aromatic Tuscan olive oil or a succulent risotto with Vernaccia wine (an exquisite type of white wine produced only in the San Gimignano area).
If you don’t eat cheese don’t worry, you can find your place in heaven with Pici all’aglione.
Pici is a type of Tuscan pasta from Siena. It is a very thick type of spaghetti and is traditionally eaten with a rich tomato and garlic sauce.
Homemade pesto or seasonal vegetable ragu are also great sauces.
Pasta or risotto with zucchini flowers are also amazing and purely Tuscan!
If you like the idea of having a soup, you can opt for the Ribollita, a traditional Florentine recipe made with various types of vegetables, beans and served with grilled bread. The author especially loves this dish and recommends it any time of the year (it really is a winter soup, but so delicious you won’t disagree with me!).
HAND RACE
You can substitute the classic Florentine steak with a very delicious dish of “Melanzane alla parmigiana”. I describe it to you but do not hold me responsible if your mouth waters. It is made with layers of baked eggplant stuffed with fresh tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella cheese, seasoned with the purest and most fragrant olive oil, what we call “extra maiden”.
Or you can choose from different types of vegetable soufflés, baked stuffed vegetables with various fillings, the traditional one is breadcrumbs and parsley with olive oil, etc. Being summer the selection of vegetables available is very wide.
As for the side dishes, you can try roasted potatoes with olive oil and rosemary (a very Tuscan aroma!), Tuscan-style stewed vegetables or glazed onions made with a special type of onion grown in the Certaldo area, near Florence. .
Last but not least, the wedding cake!
Well here the Millefoglie is the Queen of all cakes. Heavenly layers of fragrant puff pastry filled with vanilla creme fraiche and topped with cream and decorated with juicy strawberries. For vegans, a delicious mono portion of Tuscan rice pudding made with soy milk.
The wedding cake is served with coffee. Before asking yes, Espresso, what else? And digestive liqueurs such as limoncello, grappa etc..
As you can see, Tuscany has it all!