For those of you who enjoy light comedy in your reading, I want to pass along a book recommendation. Of course, the book is set in Tuscany, and features many of our lovely towns and sites in its pages. I hope you will enjoy Tuscan Soup by Lou Wakefield.

This is the story of an English school teacher who rather oddly decides to accompany a few colleagues on a trip to Tuscany; I say oddly, because her reasons for going along with folks she barely knows, and likes about as much as she knows, were never quite clear to me. Let me tell you frankly that this book is not literature. It is instead a broadly drawn comedy, and makes for enjoyable light reading. The book is essentially a comic romance and if you enjoy popular fiction, and love to read stories set in Italy, I think you will like this. The Good Book Guide calls Tuscan Soup, "Ideal holiday reading."

As I said earlier, Tuscan Soup is the story of a single art teacher in England who agrees to go along on a villa holiday in Tuscany with a pair of married colleagues. Marion Hardcastle is the heroine's name, and she finds herself in the very odd situation of being the guest of an amazingly rude, and again, broadly drawn, hostess at a holiday villa. The hostess is the supercilious and obnoxious Contessa Pamela Fratorelli who provides a good deal of the comedy in this novel. Fratorelli is rude to her schoolteacher guests, and fawns on the celebrities (a pair of movie stars and a famous theater director) that are also staying in her villa-guest house at the same time.

While Marion regrets her holiday decision, a comedy of situation begins to play itself out in the villa. Danger and passion develop, and the normally reserved British guests gradually loosen and even wildly partake in all the drama. Marion starts to enjoy herself, and a romance develops. I've heard this described as a "cute little book" so I do want to recommend it with certain caveats: it's not high lit, nor is it full of wonderfully descriptive pages that evoke all of Tuscany's charms. But it can be fun for those who enjoy light comic reading.

The author, Lou Wakefield, has quite a reputation. She is known as an actress who has made notable appearances at the Royal Court Theatre in London and the Public Theater in New York. She appeared in the Rocky Horror Picture Show on stage in London in 1975, and has a slew of British TV appearances to her credit, including Inspector Morse. She has directed television, including episodes of Coronation Street and Brookside, and has written acclaimed programs for ITV and BBC Radio. Tuscan Soup is Wakefield's first novel, and its broadly drawn scenes and situations will not be unfamiliar to television fans.

Tuscan Soup
Lou Wakefield
Coronet Books, Great Britain, 2001

I would love to hear your feedback on our book and film reviews. Do you agree or disagree with my opinions? It will be fun to see some lively discussions on the way Tuscany is represented in books and movies. If you would like to send feedback, simply address your emails to Tuscanlifeedit@verizon.net

Minestra di Pasta Grattata 

This is a very homey and very easy soup to make. It is the kind of thing that I associate with my mother's cooking, and coming home after a long, cold trek from school or work. Minestra di Pasta Grattata is a dish that you will have no trouble getting your family to love. It translates, roughly, as "soup with grated pasta."

For the Pasta:

• 3 cups flour
  
• 3 large eggs
  
• salt and freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Make a well with the flour and a pinch each of salt and nutmeg. Place the broken, then beaten eggs in the middle, and gradually draw the flour into the eggs, using a fork or your fingers. The dough will be very stiff. Knead it until smooth, form it into a disc, then leave it to dry for an hour or so. Next, grate the dough on your coarsest grater. Spread the grated pasta on a lightly floured cloth to dry.

For the broth, you will need a gallon or so of a richly flavored meat or chicken stock. Your favorite recipe will do. Bring the stock to a boil, stir in the grated pasta, and cook for a very few minutes, or until the broth stops foaming. Serve immediately with a generous amount of aged, grated Pecorino.

Ribollita, 

No discussion of the soups of Tuscany would be complete without a recipe for Ribollita, which means, as you can easily decipher, twice boiled. This is another extremely hearty and homey dish, and there are as many recipes for Ribollita as there are cooks in Tuscany. Our recipe is adapted from several cookbooks and restaurant-tasting sessions. We hope you enjoy it.

3 cups dried white cannelloni beans, soaked overnight in cold water to cover, and drained in the morning. Do not leave the beans in water too long; we've had ours sprout!

• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Tuscan Olive Oil
  
  
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
  
  
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
  
  
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
  
  
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  
  
• 4 cups Savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
  
  
• 2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
  
  
• Coarse salt to taste
  
  
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  
  
• 1 ham bone or knuckle for soup
  
  
• 2 cups stale cubes of rough, country style bread
  
  
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion for garnish

Place the soaked and drained beans in a large saucepan covered with fresh water, and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute and drain.

Heat the oil in a large stock pot, and sauté the garlic, onions, carrot and celery, until tender, about 5 to 10 minutes on medium to low heat. Add the tomato paste, then the cabbage, reserved beans, and potatoes. Using water or stock, or a combination of both, add about 6 to 8 quarts of liquid, and a ham bone. Cook for at least 90 minutes, then cool for at least an hour, preferably overnight.

Stir the bread into the soup, and season and reheat. Cook for 30 minutes to an hour, until the soup is thick and dense. Readjust the seasonings, and serve in large bowls with a garnish of the chopped onion and the very best olive oil to pour over the soup. This one will warm you on the coldest night!

Minestrone alla Fiorentina 

This is another old-fashioned recipe, developed by cooks in and around Florence, to make the most of local ingredients.

• 2/3 cup Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
  
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
  
  
• 1/2 cup (not smoked or heavily cured) ham, finely chopped
  
  
• 1 small head Savoy cabbage, shredded
  
  
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
  
  
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  
  
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  
  
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  
  
• 1 15,5 ounce can white cannelloni beans
  
  
• 3 quarts water or stock, or a combination of both

Put 1/4 cup of the oil in a large soup pot, and sauté the onion, ham, cabbage, celery and garlic gently until the vegetables are tender. You do not want the meat to brown. Add the beans, the stock, the sprigs of the herbs, and cook for 90 minutes. Check the seasoning, and remove what remains of the herb sprigs. Serve in large bowls with rest of the oil for a garnish, and with plenty of grated Parmesano Reggiano.