Day 3: San Gimignano & Chianti (Tuscany)

Florence, Italy

I think I’ll be retiring to Tuscany one day! The beyond beautiful Tuscan hillsides did not disappoint today! We got up early to get to San Gimignano near 9am. We had a chance to explore this village for about two hours, and it was a much better way to start a Monday morning than we’re all use to! This is a small, walled medieval hill town known as the ‘Town of Fine Towers.’ It is famous for its medieval architecture, and still has ~13 of its towers which create a spectacular view from afar (see photo). The town existed in the late BCs, and was named San Gimignano in ~480 AD. It was very hilly and had several unique nooks, courtyards and views of the lovely hillside. The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is famous for growing in the sandstone hillsides. It stayed quiet as we explored and enjoyed a morning cappuccino in the center of town…as we hopped back into our van, the tour buses were pouring in/flooding this little town. Another reminder of how lucky we were to book through an individual vs a tour group! Today I write before dinner because we’re all still too full from the amazing lunch we made in our cooking class! We arrived to a quaint farmhouse on the hillside at Il Vicario Cooking school to roll up our sleeves and learn to cook some authentic Tuscan favorites! Beyond the Uncle (owner of the school) and niece (provided most of the instructions), we also met a nice couple from Vancouver and one additional lady from NYC that we worked well with to prepare our Italian feast! We started first by making our pasta (fresh rolled pesce) to allow enough time for it to dry. From here, we moved from the main dining table to the kitchen to prepare two pasta sauces: one fresh tomatoes, garlic, pepper and rosemary & one thyme, onion, beans and parmesan. While in the kitchen I spotted Skyline Chili & Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce on the shelf! I immediately had to inquire and learned the owner and teacher of our class have visited Cincinnati to teach a cooking class! They even tried their first real burger (beyond McDonalds) at Zips Cafe which I lived about 10 mins from during my time in Cincinnati! What a small world! We put water on to boil then returned to the main table to dice tomatoes, fresh basil and cucumbers to make fresh bruschetta and a Tuscan bread salad. From here, we returned to the kitchen to prepare cheese (served the young/mild cheese as is, spread fig jam on the medium/mid-aged cheese, and spread honey with a sprinkle of nutmeg on the most sharp/aged cheese), spread the bruschetta on the toasted bread, make fresh garlic bread, and then finish putting together our pasta course. We sat to enjoy the cheeses, bruschetta, garlic bread and bread salad with the local white wine, Vernaccia. It was then time to try out our hand rolled pasta! Both delicious in their own way…the red a little spicy and the white more hearty with the addition of cannoli beans. The course was served with a lovely red wine from the region. From here, we returned to the kitchen to prepare our final course – chicken with sage, garlic and prosciutto! We simply seasoned the thin cut chicken with salt and pepper, flipped over to roll a piece of garlic and leaf of sage into the middle. Used a toothpick to secure the prosciutto and rolled in flour. Next, we warmed some olive oil (I think in 3 days I’ve consumed more olive oil than I ever have in my life and this is NOT me complaining!) and begin to pan fry the chicken. With the addition of a dessert wine to the pan, we allowed the sauce that was created as a byproduct of this creation to reduce and wa-lah!! We had a wonderful chicken dish to finish our lunch that was similar to Chicken Marsala (of course, much fresher and better tasting than any I’ve had in the US). After finishing our meal and last glass of wine, the instructor and owner presented us with a little individual cookbook for each of us that outlines all we made today! Our voyage continued on to Greve in Chianti at Castello Verrazzano for a nice wine tasting. We of course sampled Chianti Classico and their reserve; but, also got to try their Rosato (Rose), Grappa and 10 yr old balsamic vinegar (amazing, but sold for $70 for a small bottle). Near 6:10pm we arrived back to our apartment and are trying to decide where the night will take us from here…full bellies + wine may equal a short nap before headed back out in the city tonight! The day is not even over and we’re all feeling blessed to be here! Not sure anyone is supposed to have this much fun all in one day 🙂 Ps. Glad to hear the Browns won the home opener!!! Ciao!