Every Day in Tuscany (16 page)

Forno
, I must remember to ask Ed, has an etymological relationship to “fornicate.”

Almost as soon as the pizza glides in, out it comes, the yeast blistering the dough and the crust toasty in the intense heat. Ed quickly cuts and our friends devour them as quickly as we can get slices on plates. The children dispense with plates and eat on the fly. Everyone has brought wine and the new stone table already shows a few red circles and splats. No matter. Let the entire stone absorb the runoff from these magical summer evenings. In the mountains, people really eat. After a day outside, Ed has the appetite of a marathon runner. Domenica and Ivan brush the flour from their hands and speed off like the genies from a bottle that they are.

Every crumb, every grain of farro has been consumed. Franco practices his English.
Where is it that you come from?
Becky practices Italian.
Quanto tempo ci vuole per adare ad Arezzo?

Ah,
brava
, that
ci vuole
jumps away from the phrase book into the vernacular. How much time do you need to go to Arezzo?

We hear “Marco” and “Polo” from the pool, then the children are running by, wrapped in their towels, hiding behind the oven and oaks, chasing fireflies. The Italians gather at one end of the table, not being able to bear any longer our guests who don’t speak Italian—they need to
talk
—though they pour them grappa and pass it down to the other end, where plans are laid for day trips to Siena and Montalcino. Edo and Placido light their cigar stubs, to the amazement of the Californians. Fiorella and Chiara help me serve the gelato and the
crostate
, all praise to Domenica, then a few Beatles songs unite all of us. “Yellow Submarine,” it seems, is a universal language.

May all the guests make it up the rough road.
Buona notte. A domani
… Until tomorrow. The fire falls to ashy embers now. We face the kitchen littered with plates and glasses—how can we have used every glass in the house? With my thumb, I rub the soapy water around the lipstick prints. “Ed, what was it with
forno
and
fornicate
?”

“Oh, the Roman whores used to hang out at the public ovens to keep warm. They’d go after a night’s work and wait for the warm bread.”

“But which came first,
forno
or
fornicate
?”

“Both are old as time. But
forno
originally meant
arch
so I guess that’s the dome of the oven.” Ed and I start the dishwasher, sweep the kitchen, and turn out the light. We step outside for the deep night sounds of owls calling to each other. A little chill has arrived and we lean against the still-warm oven and listen.

May the scurrying animals who are owl prey hear those haunting oboe notes and find a burrow. The far lights of Cortona string down the hill. I know the piazza is still hopping. A line runs out of the gelato shop. The
trattorie
are resetting the tables for tomorrow and a cat sleeps outside Isa’s antiques store. We are near and far. I have come to love the chestnut forest and this stone house, already old when Signorelli did or did not walk along the path to the spring. Tomorrow I will be up early to sow arugula seeds. Summer begins.

P
ASTA AL
F
ORNO CON
S
ALSICCE E
Q
UATTRO
F
ORMAGGI
Baked Pasta with Sausage and Four Cheeses

With the bread oven hot, we can slide many different dishes across the brick floor—bread, of course, roast chickens, three at a time, and baked pastas. Ed adapted this recipe for home use. We’ve served this a hundred times at casual suppers.

Serves 6

Olive oil

1 onion, minced

1 carrot, minced

2 ribs celery, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

Salt for seasoning

½ pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, meat cut into small pieces

½ pound spicy Italian sausage, casings removed, meat cut into small pieces

½ cup red wine

4 or 5 sprigs of oregano, leaves torn

1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, chopped

1 pound dried rigatoni

1 cup ricotta

½ pound Fontina or Taleggio, cubed

½ pound mozzarella, cubed

½ cup
parmigiano

½ cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring a stockpot of water to the boil.

In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic on low heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the sausage to the pan, cooking until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the red wine, turn the heat up to boil, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the oregano and the tomatoes along with their juices and continue cooking for at least 10 minutes.

When the water in the stockpot has come to a boil, salt it, and add the rigatoni. Cook a minute or two less than the time required on the package (since it will continue cooking in the oven), then drain, reserving a bit of pasta water.

In a large bowl, mix the ricotta with the Fontina and a splash of the pasta water, then add the drained rigatoni, and continue mixing. Add the sausage mixture. Add the mozzarella to the bowl and mix well, then pour into an oiled 8- by 13-inch baking dish, sprinkling grated
parmigiano
and bread crumbs on top.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, and serve hot.

V
ARIATION:
For the ingredients listed before the cheeses, you can substitute 2 cups of homemade ragù
.

I
NSALATA DI
F
ARRO
Farro Salad

Farro is sometimes translated as spelt but is actually its own distinctive grain. Tuscans love it with chickpeas in a rousing winter soup. In summer, farro salad is an inspired choice for lunches because it is easy, abundant, and tasty. Leftover farro salad keeps in the fridge for 3 or 4 days and is handy for wraps or to serve in radicchio leaves on an antipasto platter.

Serves 10

2 cups farro

4 tomatoes, chopped, or ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced

2 or 3 ribs celery, chopped

½ cup green olives, cut in half if they’re large

2 shallots, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ to ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup basil leaves, torn

1 cup parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper

Follow the directions on the package of farro. Usually it cooks in less than 2 hours. While the farro is cooking, mix the other ingredients together. Drain the farro and add it to the vegetable mixture, correct the seasonings, and serve at room temperature.

V
ERDURE
A
RROSTO
Roasted Vegetables

When you cook out of your garden, invention becomes a necessity. What to do with an abundance of onions, eggplants, and pears, not to mention a side of pancetta or speck a friend brought over? Roasting is quick and easy. Try Brussels sprouts, shallots, garlic, and lemon peel together.

Serves 4

1 eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces

8 garlic cloves, peeled

Salt and pepper

2 onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 pears, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges

6 slices of pancetta, speck, or bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the eggplant, garlic, seasonings, and onions with some oil and put in an ovenproof dish. Cover with foil and bake. After 20 minutes, remove the foil, add the pears and pancetta, and return to the oven for another 20 minutes, tossing once.