Autumn 2020, two recipes to start the season!

All  the  best ingredients to bring to the table. What’s better than a risotto and  a soup?

Every year we complain that summer is too short and the time flies too fast. In Italy, thinking about this difficult time with the pandemic, we can say that we were pretty lucky. We didn’t travel much abroad but each of us was able to take time to appreciate the beauty of the region where we live. There is beauty in almost every corner of the country. Some people chose to spend time at the beach, others walking on the streets of our amazing “borghi” in Toscana or Umbria. It was a way to know our country better. Now that summer is gone, we can say that we did more things than we were hoping in March or April when the health emergency was greater.

So now welcome autumn and the fall. After many months of hot weather, even if Italians are meteoropathic people, we embrace the first bit of cold. We love to put on a jacket, to make the first soup,  to go to the countryside to pick mushrooms or chestnuts; to watch the foliage that is so romantic, or to drink the first hot tea of the season, after a dinner with the best Italian food we have.  

Do you remember all the hours we spent cooking and baking? We put them on the metaphorical back burner during summer time to enjoy the sun, but now they are coming back. So here are some timely suggestions for the first recipes of the season. 

Mushroom risotto with almonds, prosciutto and eggplant cream

There is nothing that represents autumn quite like a mushroom risotto. After summer, it starts raining and mushrooms grow on the countryside, ready to be picked. You can choose the champignon kind or the dried one. Before mixing it with the rice (we suggest Arborio made by Tenuta Margherita. Check our website to see all the options), you need to cook the mushroom with some extra virgin olive oil and two slices of garlic.  When they are almost ready you can add the rice and leave it cooking, adding water one spoon at the time.

To this simple recipe you can add some meat, like prosciutto or speck and/or eggplant cream. (you need to boil the eggplant and when they are soft with a mixer you will have a cream). To make the recipe more crunchy, we always suggest to toast some clean almonds and to add the rice at the end when it is ready to bring to the table.

For 4 people, you need:

300 gr. Superfino rice arborio Tenuta Margherita

50 gr. dried porcini mushrooms

Some garlic and onion

100 gr. of prosciutto

3 eggplant

Chickpea and pumpkin soup

This soup has all the properties to make your body stronger and ready to face the cold weather. The first septs are to chop the onion, to clean the pumpkin and to cut it in small pieces. With some EVOO, you cook the pumpkin. When the pieces become soft, you can add in the chickpeas and hot water enough to cover the pan. To season, you can add some spices, such as salt, pepper and bay leaf. The soup will be  ready in  30minutes more or  less. Adjust with extra virgin olive oil and salt. 

For  4  people:

600g of pumpkin

400g of chickpea

Organic Extra virgin olive oil Zucchi