This serves two with a large salad or another dish (we usually have fish with this) or three as a small side dish or starter. You can double the recipe easily.

8 oz. can pumpkin, drained very, very well. I usually drain the canned pumpkin in a colander lined with clean cotton toweling, and after draining, I then squeeze any extra moisture out, using the towel.

1.5 to 2 cups flour. I use a little less and save some for kneading, rolling, etc.

Make a well with the flour

1 Tablespoon salt

pinch (small) nutmeg

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Place all the additional ingredients in the center of flour well. Mix with hands, drawing flour in to the well as you go until all is mixed in.

Knead lightly

Roll into ropes about 1” in diameter, then cut into 1/2” pieces. Push these up a floured fork to get ridges. Place on a floured cloth, then cook or freeze.

Boil in a large pot of salted water; they are done a few minutes after they reach the surface. Drain and toss with room temperature Pesto. Serve immediately.

2 cups fresh basil, firmly packed

3/4 cup Tuscan Pecorino cheese

3/4 cup Extra Virgin Tuscan Olive Oil

1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts (toasting makes a difference) cooled

4 large or 6 medium garlic cloves

Place everything in food processor and process 3 minutes. If you process for more than 3 minutes it gets to fine and runny. Makes 1 .25 cups.

Italy is the largest wine producing country in the world, but for over much of the last 150 years, this was not considered to be a distinction. Because of the huge native demand, Italian wines were produced with quantity, and not quality, as the wine producers' ultimate goal. Of course, our special interest is in the wines of Tuscany, but these too, suffered for years due to old-fashioned quantity driven methods, as well as the low quality of many of the wines that were available for export.

The first Tuscan wines to leave the Duchy of Tuscany crossed our borders in 1710, and they were instantly a success. But the market was huge and demanding, and the following centuries did not serve the wine well. By the early 1900s, agricultural pursuits were no longer the only life available to the young born of the countryside, and many of them began to flee to the cities, were jobs were more plentiful and wages were better. Not only were the available land and work force declining, but the methods used in the wines that were being made were not sophisticated.

According to Giacomo Tachis, considered by many to be the greatest of all Italian wine experts, "We knew very little about wine. We were ignorant of the deepest secrets of its structure, we mixed white grapes with red ones, we had no extraction techniques to exploit the value of the biology." Before the later part of the twentieth century, wine was considered food, something of nutritious value, and not an art form to be enjoyed by connoisseurs. Tuscan wines could not stand up to comparisons with French wines. Tachis told us, "We produced a light red wine, poor in body, certainly drinkable, vivacious. But its aroma was fleeting."

But in 1960s, events transpired that would elevate Italian, and particularly Tuscan wines to a place of prominence in the world. It was then that the law on protecting wines was established, and Chianti was the first Italian wine to be granted a Designation of Origin. Wines are produced in all 20 of Italy's recognized regions, and the laws of 1968 began the process of creating the four classifications that cover all Italian wines.

The highest classification is the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garnatita, the DOCG, which, in English, translates to the Certification of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin. This highest classification was added to the evolving rank structure in 1980. Three Tuscan wines were among the original five to be granted the DOCG. They were the Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, and the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

In order to gain DOCG status, there are strict procedures that the wine consortiums of any region must follow. A wine must possess a DOC rating for at least five years before it can be considered for a DOCG ranking, and then it must be judged to surpass all DOC wines in its quality and depth of characteristics. There must be characteristics to the wine that are specifically identifiable with its methods of cultivation, the environment in which it is grown, and the specific climate that is particular to that environment. Additionally, all D.O.C.G. wines must, by law, bear a paper strip seal that is a guarantee of their quality and designation.

The three lesser rankings are the DOC, or Denominazione di Origine Controllata, the English translation of which is Certification of Controlled Origin. This classification designates the production area of a wine (we will soon present a guide to the DOC wines of Tuscany). That is followed by the IGT, the Indicazione Geografica Tipica, or Typical Geographic Indication, which was introduced in 1992, and is again based on production areas. The IGT differs from the DOC in that its boundaries and rules are less stringent, and wines can aspire to an IGT ranking when they are typical to the geographic area in which they are produced. The final, and lowest ranking for Italian wines in the VdT, the Vino di Tavola, or Table Wines. The labels of these wines list neither vintage information nor do they specify grape variety. Many VdT wines are excellent, and can often be found only in Italy.

I find I have digressed from the topic of the DOCG wines of Tuscany. The historian Zeffiro Ciuffoleti has said that, "Tuscany, as regards wines, has no equal the world over, thanks to a most felicitous nature, and to a civilization of the grapevine and of wine that has been decanted and refined over the centuries." Tachis himself says, "Here there is light, the sun. Radiant sunlight and the right soil are the soul of wine. But the tradition of the countryside and the memory of men are the solid bases of the extraordinary Tuscan wine culture."

This century has seen amazing progress in the culture of Tuscan wine. Producers have turned to science and history; they have experimented with great wines, and found new methods. Throughout Tuscany, less wine is now produced than say, 100 years ago, but the quality of wines are infinitely higher. Today, there are five DOCG wines produced in Tuscany. Again, Tachis has said, "Tuscan new wines are gentle, have intense colors, more vinous, spicier perfumes, and flavors that are dense, sapid, evolved."

These are currently the five DOCG wines produced in Tuscany:

Brunello di Montalcino: This is a red wine of the highest quality. It is best enjoyed with red meat, game and cheese. The Brunello di Montalcino has a dry, warm, harmonious taste that is lightly tannic.

Carmignano: This wine is of a red color that tends toward the garnet shades with aging. Its taste is smooth, and also dry and harmonious. Roast meats and cheeses are its perfect accompaniments.

Chianti and Chianti Classico: These ware both light ruby red in color, with a dry and slightly tannic taste. The go well with both first and second course dishes.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano: This wine is produced from the vine stock of the same name. It is straw yellow in color, and has a dry taste. It is excellent served as an aperitif, and with fish and antipasti.

Nobile di Montepulciano: The Nobile di Montepulciano is ruby red in color, also tending toward garnet with aging. It has a dry taste, with a possible woodsy aftertaste. It is excellent when served with meat, game and cheeses.