0
  • No products in the cart.
Cart Total:€0,00
 
BACK TO SEASONAL RECIPES
October 22, 2025

Radicchio, Walnut & Pecorino Salad

Vibrant colours and bold flavours combine in this wonderful autumnal salad. Roasted root vegetables, crisp radicchio, toasted walnuts, and pecorino are brought together with a drizzle of Fonte di Foiano 1979 extra virgin olive oil, creating a perfect balance of earthy, nutty, and slightly bitter notes.

READ MORE

October 9, 2025

Roasted Squash Salad with Chestnuts and Dates

Italian striped squash brings gentle sweetness and texture to this early autumn salad. Paired with crisp radishes, peppery watercress, rich Medjool dates, and toasted chestnuts, it bridges late summer freshness with fall warmth—perfect for October’s changing light.
READ MORE

September 30, 2025

Cavolo Nero Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons

Cavolo Nero is a cold season staple here in Italy, and when it starts to show up in markets, you know autumn has arrived. Earthy, hearty, and deeply nourishing, it brings a rustic twist to the classic Caesar salad.

READ MORE

August 30, 2025

Porcini and Thyme Toast

The rich, earthy flavours of autumn are vivid in this simple yet elegant porcini mushroom toast. Prized porcini bring a deep, woody taste that perfectly captures the season. Great as a light lunch or even for breakfast this toast embodies the cozy spirit of autumn’s forest bounty.READ MORE

April 23, 2025

Green Bean and Shitake Salad with Lemon and Miso

This is a great salad as you head out of the summer when the French beans are fine and delicious, and mushrooms are readily available. I have been known to use porcini for this, but for those of you not living in rural Tuscany, shitake are the ideal choice.READ MORE

January 15, 2025

Tagliatelle con Porcini

Ten days after the autumn rains begin to fall, our thoughts in Italy turn to porcini. You have to know either where to forage them, or know someone who knows in order to get the finest crop. READ MORE

November 20, 2024

Broccoletti with Pulses – Cecamariti

This recipe comes from the amazing Anna del Conte. Cecamariti means ‘it blinds the husbands’, which probably refers to the peperoncino but in actual fact, it isn’t too spicy – and the pulses need a bit of a lift!

READ MORE

November 8, 2024

Tomato and Pomegranate Salad

This is the perfect salad for when the tomatoes still have some flavour and the pomegranates are coming in to their own. It is an autumn delight and the perfect combination of savoury, sharpness and sweetness. It works amazingly alongside simply grilled protein.READ MORE

November 8, 2024

Grated Carrot Salad with Spring Onion, Walnuts and Burrata

When the nights start to cool, the carrots become so delicious it’s lovely to find a dish that really allows them to sing. This dish has a touch of anchovy in it, you can of course leave it out, but it is so finely chopped, it disappears, so I suggest you give it a try even if you think you don’t like it!

READ MORE

October 20, 2024

Zuppa di Fagioli

A comforting Tuscan classic, this fagioli soup features tender cannellini beans, aromatic vegetables, and fresh herbs. Finished with a drizzle of Viola Tradizione extra virgin olive oil, it’s earthy, warming, and perfectly suited for a cozy autumn or winter meal.READ MORE

September 25, 2024

Florence Fennel Pickle

There is something deeply satisfying about opening the cupboard in winter to find a jar of something delicious you preserved with care during the autumn.
READ MORE

February 10, 2024

Full flavour Farro and Lentil Salad

During the winter months, you need a salad that gives a bit more. This is a great option for lunch, packed full of flavour and goodness and great with an ample serving of new season extra virgin olive oil.READ MORE

Beetroot relish
November 9, 2023

Roasted Beetroot Relish

This relish preserves the earthiness of the root without swamping it in vinegar as can happen with beetroot. It is best made with young roots (found typically in the latter part of the summer) and makes a brilliant companion to mackerel. READ MORE

November 7, 2023

Fusillo di Felitto con Ragu di Agnello

It is often said in Campania that pasta is a celebration food. Families here were brought up on vegetables and bread and dishes such as this were reserved for the finest of days. As such, it has something intrinsically special about it.READ MORE

November 1, 2023

Castelluccio lentil and aubergine stew

This recipe is a twist on Ottolenghi’s creation combining the simple ingredients of aubergines and lentils in a unique way. It is perfect for enjoying those last aubergines of the season. READ MORE

The Olive Oil Carrot Cake with a slice taken out of it.
October 9, 2023

The Olive Oil Carrot Cake

This recipe was shared with me by a great friend (the best way to receive recipes!) just a few weeks ago and we’ve already made it twice!READ MORE

October 5, 2023

Miso, Sumac Roasted Squash

Embrace the flavours of autumn with this roasted squash dish. Glazed with extra virgin olive oil, white miso, pink peppercorns, and sumac, each bite is a burst of vibrant flavours. READ MORE

October 30, 2022

Caesar Mushroom and Tomino Salad

Should you eat raw mushrooms? No, never… except perhaps when they are Caesar’s Mushrooms (Ovuli in Italian) and your good friends, who are hugely experienced mushroom foragers, have picked them. It’s a gift fit for an emperor and one of the culinary delights of the autumn. If you are willing to risk your life in eating a raw mushroom… READ MORE

September 12, 2022

Homemade Pici

Pici should be prepared the day you are eating them. They are wonderful with Ragu, or with a simple Tomato Aglione, or alternatively with Cacio e Pepe.READ MORE

November 29, 2021

Chestnut pasta with mushroom and chesnuts

Chestnuts are a quintessential autumn ingredient yet very few people dare to cook with them.  Not the case over here in Italy where they are integrated in to a variety of different dishes at this time of the year.READ MORE

October 29, 2021

Risotto ai Funghi Porcini e Nepitella

Risotto ai Funghi Porcini is a heartwarming dish in the autumn.  It’s often made with dried porcini – but nothing beats the incredible flavour and texture you get with fresh mushrooms in this most seasonal dish.  Adding a little nepitella (calamint in English), lifts this dish brilliantly with its green aromatics (here is a bit more information about nepitella).  This dish should be crowned as the king of autumn. READ MORE

September 27, 2021

Figs and Burrata Salad

As summer drifts into autumn we are in fig season for a few short weeks.  This fruit makes the most wonderful combination with creamy burrata and putting this dish together takes moments.READ MORE

Ajvar from Friuli
November 21, 2020

Ajvar Friuliano

Like almost everything in Friuli, its food is also a combination of influences from the different cultures that make up this stunning region. Here, Italian, Austrian and Slavic food mixes side by side. Ajvar, a typical dip from Friuli, feels strongly Slavic in character, but also deeply Italian.READ MORE

November 21, 2020

Liguria’s Farinata

Made with chickpea flour, water and olive oil, versions of this dish have existed in the Med since greek civilisation and possibly earlier. Farinata as we know it today traces its origins to the aftermath of a naval battle between Genoa and Pisa in the middle ages.READ MORE

October 28, 2020

Orecchiette Cime di Rape e Vongole

Orecchiette alle Cime di Rape is one of the stalwarts of Pugliese cuisine.  This version, with strascinati (a type of orecchiette) and vongole we had in a restaurant we really love, L’Osteria del Porto, in the small fishing village of Savelletri – just south of coastal gem Monopoli. READ MORE

Autumn is the season for pumpkins
October 26, 2020

Pumpkins!

Pumpkins have a high antioxidant content, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin as well as a high level of vitamin A (which strengthens your immune system) – perfect October food to guide you through the season change.READ MORE

October 14, 2020

Ribollita

Ribollita is one of the quintessential Tuscan dishes, made from bread (preferably stale), beans and autumnal veggies. Ribollita means ‘boiled again’, and whilst very simple, it takes a few re-boilings to make delicious. READ MORE

September 23, 2020

The noble Borlotto

Grown most successfully in the Veneto and specifically in Lamon where they are famed for their production (if you are buying dried Borlotti, then it’s worth looking for the origin Lamon), borlotti beans are high in potassium and magnesium as well as giving a decent dose of iron and vitamin B6. Borlotti are extremely good for you and just the ticket as the weather turns colder. READ MORE

November 21, 2019

Raffaella Cova’s Spaghetti Micol

Raffaella Cova is a wonderful cook who runs beautiful classes in Montalcino. We featured a conversation with her in the past, and today she kindly publishes one of her favourite autumnal recipes: Spaghetti Micol. READ MORE

October 27, 2019

Beetroot three ways

Red, orange and yellow feature highly in our autumn vegetable basket, from pumpkin to pomegranate, we feel blessed to have these rich, earthy, autumnal flavours at our table. Beetroot holds a special place in our heart so we wanted to dedicate a few words to it.READ MORE

May 14, 2018

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Frantoio De Carlo, Tenuta Torre di Mossa

We love this dish served with crusty bread and a green salad and accompanied by a chilled glass of Vermentino.  It seems perfect for those evenings when you begin eating outdoors as spring fades to summer.READ MORE

November 27, 2017

Zafferano

November in Italy is the time of the Saffron harvest.  This luxurious and highly prized ingredient is an essential part of the Italian larder, used particularly for its spice and colour.  This week we visited the organic farm Poggio Alloro just outside San Gimignano to discover more about it.
READ MORE

November 8, 2017

Tagliatelle al Tartufo

Autumn Recipes

Truffles are one of the most wonderful culinary luxuries in the world. We are so lucky to live close to one of its most important areas, San Giovanni d’Asso in central Tuscany, and towards the end of October and throughout November we try to have our annual fix. READ MORE

Nepitella
October 10, 2017

Tagliatelle ai Funghi Porcini e Nepitella

One of the idiosyncrasies of living in Italy is that many things are not terribly clear or well explained, but Italians seem to navigate this with ease and are apparently surprised when you ask for help. Things are done in a certain way, even if there isn’t really an explanation for it. READ MORE

Porcini with EVOO
November 23, 2016

Autumn Salads

Autumn Recipes

As the autumn peaks, and the wind and rain bring the yellow leaves down to the ground, we tend to eat more soups, casseroles, meats, to keep our bones warm. But sometimes you need something to lift up your senses and refresh your palate. READ MORE

Black Chickpea Soup
October 25, 2016

Black Chickpea Soup

We spent a great morning with Raffaella Cova recently (see interview here), of www.lunchwithraffaella.com.  Based in Montalcino, Raffaella runs amazing cooking classes and a catering service for events and nearby villas.  Amongst the various wonderful dishes she taught us, these black chickpeas were a complete surprise that we thought was worth sharing.READ MORE