Paolo Petroni - Recipes from Tuscany: Traditional Home Cooking

Before trying these recipes, I strongly advise you to read these brief notes, which provide important information for the perfect success of the dishes.

BROTH AND STOCK CUBE Besides the traditional broth (which must be done with the right ingredients), when a little stock is needed for cooking, it is okay to use granulated stock or vegetable bouillon cubes.

CHOPPED AROMATIC VEGETABLES A good finely chopped mixture of the classic aromatic vegetables (onions, celery and carrots) is incomparably fragrant, but to save time or when fresh vegetables are unavailable, a frozen mixture can also be used. At some supermarkets you can even find a fresh mixture; only as an extreme alternative should you use the soup cube type.

CREAM I am opposed to the use of cream in pasta dishes, but in some very rare cases, a little of it may be added. It is essential, however, to use only light, fresh, liquid whipping cream. Never use the long-preservation type, which is thick as paste and heavy in flavour.

GARLIC AND CHILI Fresh garlic is unbeatable (on the bruschetta its irreplaceable) but in gravies and sauces, it could be replaced with garlic paste or powdered garlic. Same thing for chili pepper which is usually combined with powdered garlic. In many recipes garlic and parsley bouillon cubes will also do.

OLIVE OIL In recipes I indicate just olive oil because for me that simply means oil extracted from olives. However, since according to certain laws the meaning is quite different, you should exclusively use Italian extra-virgin olive oil. For frying, I prefer peanut oil.

TOMATOES In recipes that require cooking with tomatoes, the use of canned peeled tomatoes is advised: they are tastier, add more flavor, and are more convenient because they are already peeled. If you only have fresh plum tomatoes available, instead of 12 ounces of canned tomaotes, you would need more than 1 pound of fresh ones.

WINE Many sauces call for the addition of white wine, or more rarely red wine, which is cooked until it reduces. You can use any wine, even the kind sold in cardboard containers, as long as it is good and has no taste of vinegar or cork.