Hire a Private Chef: Why?
As a Professional Chef and Sommelier, I can definitely recommend you to hire a private Chef in Tuscany.
Of course, she/he has to be a professional one.
In fact, there are too many smart ones who buy your supper ready and then they pass it off as prepared by them.
With my activity as a private chef, I do the shopping, I come to your holiday home and start cooking until dinner time.
I usually arrive about 3 hours before dinner. Be wary of those who take less time. I warned you!
Anyway, guys, what is a better way to get to know people and cultures other than ours? Food is a great vehicle for knowledge.
Watching someone cooking and preparing your fav Italian dish, here in Tuscany, Italy, is a precious experience.
And me, as an Itinerant Chef who has been doing this job for 10 years, I can say that’s always an amazing experience for the Chef as well.
The 2 best first courses (Primi Piatti) at your holiday home
No doubt, home-made pasta has first place. I roll it and cut it under your eyes. And if anyone wants to try using the pasta machine, I teach them to use it.
However, immediately afterward comes the risotto, the Prince of the Italian tables.
Risotto is by no means a simple dish to prepare. This is why cooking enthusiasts and gourmets love to watch me from the preparation of the broth to the creaming of the finished dish. Often every step is marked in order to be able to do it again at home.
Image by Ulrike Leone
The recipe: Saffron Risotto
The Milanese risotto is the most classic of the classics. It is the best-known Italian risotto. The version that I show you here is an ancient recipe that comes directly from the greatest writer and lover of Italian recipes: Pellegrino Artusi.
- 2 cups (450 gr) Carnaroli Rice (or Arborio)
- 1/3 cup (80 gr) Unsalted Butter
- 1 onion (medium)
- 1/2 tsp. saffron threads
- 6 cups (1l) broth (beef or veggie)
- 1 cup (100 gr) grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 glass dry white wine
Instructions
- For the cooking: chop the onion very fine with the “mezzaluna” and put it on the fire with half of the butter.
- As it’s translucent and golden, pour the rice stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon until it has sucked all the sauce
- After a few minutes add the wine and begin to pour the broth: a ladle at a time, waiting it sucks all the broth every time, stirring continuously
- Remind: it has to boil slowly, otherwise the rice remains hard in the middle and crumbles on the surface
- Salt it
- When the rice is almost ready, add the last ladle of broth with the saffron melted in it
- As cooked, turn off the heat, and add the Parmigiano Reggiano
- Add the remaining butter
- Stir gently (this process is called: “mantecatura”) 5 seconds and let the risotto rest 5 minutes (don’t touch it during this time)
- Serve IMMEDIATELY and Buon Appetito!
If you hire a Private Chef in Tuscany, you can taste many different kinds of Risotto:
Risotto with baby cuttlefish and Tuscan pumpkin
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