Primi or Pasta Dishes
Also stemming from history, many Tuscan dishes were invented based on the principle of “waste not” such as ribollita - a tuscan vegetable and bread soup - and pappa al pomodoro - a tomato and bread soup (in the photo above). Both use stale bread as the base that is flavored with a variety of vegetables and legumes. Ribollita, traditionally a poor-man's food, is hearty and thickened with the leftover bread, cannellini beans and inexpensive vegetables that you can often find year-round such as onions, carrots, celery, kale and cabbage. Pappa al pomodoro is another very traditional dish made simply with the day old bread, tomatoes, olive oil and sometimes a hint of garlic, depending on the recipe. As simple as these dishes sound, they are flavorful enough to have become a favorite among locals and also among tourists throughout the decades. Other first course dishes in Tuscany are simple pastas such as pappardelle alla lepre o al sugo di cinghiale, a fresh, egg noodle pasta with either a hare or wild boar sauce.
Another common dish coming from this principle is Trippa and Lampredotto, particularly in Florence. It is served both as street food as well as in five star restaurants. Trippa is the cow’s stomach lining which is often tenderized by stewing it in a tomato sauce for a long period or served marinated as a salad. Lampredotto is served mostly as street food, which you can find at one of the many food kiosks throughout the city or in the markets during lunch time, and is also made from the stomach and served as a sandwich with a green parsley sauce and the juice from the broth in which it was cooked. Both of these are very typical Florentine foods but do take to only a certain crowd. If you are feeling experimental and love trying new things, either stop off at the indoor food market of San Lorenzo at Nerbone or at the Kiosk that you will find in Piazza dei Ciompi outside of the other food market, Sant’Ambrogio. Another option is to sit down at Trattoria da Rocco inside the Sant’Ambrogio market, where they serve up steaming plates of Tuscan classics including trippa, but don’t expect to linger as this place likes to keep things moving and get people fed and on their way. It is certainly, though, one of the most authentic places to sample a variety of local dishes without breaking the bank.