Here comes another exciting Christmas season, a time to rejoice and indulge in merrymaking, traveling, shopping and savoring some amazing and delicious Christmas dishes during the holidays. Hope all of you are getting ready to celebrate with high spirits and fervor.

During Christmas in Tuscany, the streets become live with blinking lights on every shop, beautiful decorations adorn churches, and people in every village and city are enthusiastic about celebrating this pagan and religious event . It is time for people to engage in preparing the Nativity scenes.

Have you decorated your house as yet?

The decorations for Christmas in each house include a Christmas tree and a Nativity scene. The practice of building a Nativity scene was popularized by Saint Francis in the 12 th century.

Today, the Christmas season has stalls in the market sell statues and other objects that go into the making of the scene. They consist of statues of Joseph, Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, the three wise men, the ox and the ass, shepherds and the flock, mangers, houses and many other things. Every church also makes sure that they have a Nativity scene of their own that is made of either wood or ceramics, designed by professionals. In Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, the oldest marble carved Nativity scene can be seen. It was carved by Arnolfo di Cambio in about 1280.

Live Nativity Scenes

Earlier, the Nativity scenes were more popular as an indoor decoration with small figurines of historical images, birth of Jesus or even daily life of the natives. But now, the scenes often have live people dressed as Joseph and Mary with real animals used. Sometimes the Nativity scenes even contain characters enacted by children from the choir. St. francis of Assissi was credited with having made the first live Nativity scene in the twelfth century. A large Nativity scene is displayed in the Square of Vatican before Christmas and people come over to have a glimpse of its beauty.

Some Nativity scenes even have movements associated with them. They may be mostly attached to the church. The scenes would depict the happenings in the real order and have elements added to it as they had occurred in history. The nativity scene would initially have the Holy Family, the ox and the ass, Angels, bag pipe players and shepherds. Sometimes the scenes would also have other native characters that included the farmers. The movements in the scene would be the water falls, the light display and the appearance of the guiding star. The figure of baby Jesus is placed on the eve of Christmas followed by the three king’s visit to the barn on the day of Epiphany.

Today, Nativity scenes have developed into a form of art and can be found everywhere in the Christmas season from restaurants to homes, in street corners, in grottoes, in convents and churches. And moreover, original and live scenes can be seen above Le Ginestre, at the Church of Lizzano and at the Borro in the area of Arezzo. Sometimes even live Nativity scenes are enacted in areas close to Incisa Valdarno, Pontassieve, Reggello, Certaldo, Rufina, Fucecchio, Montale, Lari and other towns in Tuscany. In coastal areas, beautiful and breathtaking nativity scenes are created underwater as well!

How have you finished making your Nativity scene? Harry up !! Santa is coming

And now for the most important event on the day of Christmas, the Christmas lunch! The dining tables are full with different kinds of dishes that range from appetizers to pasta, cheese, vegetables, fruit, meat, desserts and of course wine. Friends are invited to have a sumptuous meal together. What have you planned to cook for this Christmas? Here is a Christmas delight that you can try at home.

Pranzo di Natale

Cappelletti in Brodo

Ingredients

To make the broth:

Skinned and cleaned small chicken – 2 (4 pound each)
Roughly chopped celery stalks – 4
Roughly chopped carrots – 1 pound
Roughly chopped onions – 1 small
Cloves – 3 or 4
Quartered tomato – 1
Parsley sprigs – 2
Chicken bouillon – 6 tablespoons
Freshly ground pepper
Salt

To make the filling:

utter – 2 tablespoons
Ground meat – 1 pound (equal parts of veal, beef and pork)
Grated Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano – 1/3 cup
Zest of ½ lemon
Egg – 1
Nutmeg, salt, pepper – ½ teaspoon each

To make the dough:

Sifted flour – 2 cups
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Eggs – 4

Method

To prepare the broth :

Boil a pot of water. Add chickens to it and simmer for about ½ an hour and skim periodically. To this add the carrots, celery, cloves, tomato, onion, parsley and chicken bouillon. Season it salt and pepper, and simmer it for 1 ½ hour. Strain and keep aside.

To prepare the filling:

Warm butter in a skillet on a medium heat. Add meat and sauté lightly till slight brown. Remove the meat from the skillet into a bowl. Add the cheese, egg and lemon zest, and season it with pepper, salt and nutmeg. Mix it well and store it in a refrigerator till you want to use them.

To prepare the dough:

Take a bowl and mix together the flour, 3 eggs, salt and one egg yolk (keep the white aside). Blend well until supple. Make strips by passing the dough through a pasta machine. With the help of a cookie cutter, cut out circles of the strips made earlier. Keep about ½ teaspoon of the filling in each circle. Beat the remaining egg white, brush the edges of the circles with it after keeping the filling in the middle and fold it to form a crescent shape. Then, pull and press the edges of the folded crescent shape together. Make the same with the remaining dough and the filling.

Boil the broth, add the cappelletti to it and simmer for 20 minutes till they are tender and begin to float.

Cappelletti in Brodo is ready!

Cinghaiale o Capretto in Salmi'

Ingredients

Boneless boar or kid meat – 2 pounds
Meat with bones – 4 pounds
Boneless beef chuck – 2 pounds
Sage leaves – 4 large (preserved/fresh)
Rosemary leaves – 1 tablespoon (preserved/fresh)
Red onion – 1 medium sized and quartered
Carrots – 2 medium sized cut into pieces
Celery – 2 stalks cut into pieces
Garlic cloves – 2 large, peeled
Dry red wine – 5 cups

For cooking the meat:

One piece of pancetta or prosciutto – 4 ounces
Sweet butter – 2 cups
Extra-virgin olive oil – 1 tablespoon
Drained capers in wine vinegar – 2 tablespoons
Salt
Black pepper freshly ground
Dry mustard dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water – 1 teaspoon
Grappa/unflavored vodka – ¼ cup

Method

Slice the meat into two inch pieces and place them in a glass bowl.
Take another bowl and in it mix the onion, carrots, sage, rosemary, garlic and celery.
Arrange the mixture over the sliced meat evenly and pour wine over it.
Leave it for about 8 hours.
Slice the prosciutto into small pieces.
Heat a casserole on a medium heat with butter and oil.
Drain the marinated meat from the wine and the vegetables.
When the butter in the casserole melts, add the vegetables and the prosciutto with capers and sauté the mixture for about 15 minutes.
Add the meat to it and again sauté for 10 minutes.
Slowly add the marinated wine making sure that the wine added each time is reduced before adding the next.
The meat would be cooked soft when the entire wine has been added to it.
Season this with salt and pepper.
Pass the contents over a food mill and the disk with very small holes.
Reduce the sauce obtained by heating it for about 15 minutes with mustard powder.
Put back the meat into it, add the vodka/grappa and cook for about 10 minutes.

Cinghaiale o capretto in salmi' is ready to be served!

Coppa al Mascarpone

Ingredients

Slightly pale panettone (crust removed) – 7 oz
Peach brandy – 8 tablespoons
Halves of peaches preserved in syrup – 8
Mascarpone – 1 ¼ cups
Confectioner’s sugar – 10 tablespoons
Egg yolks – 2
Chocolate curls – 10 tablespoons

Method

Cut the panettone into small cubes.
Cut the peaches into small cubes and add to the panettone.
Put them in a bowl and sprinkle 4 tablespoons of peach brandy.
Work the Mascarpone into a cream, blend in the sugar, egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of peach brandy.
Combine this smoothly with the panettone mixture.
Transfer them into 4 desert cups and cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Serve with chocolate curls on the top.

How about a wine after that amazing dish? Let’s try the Prosecco di valdobbiadene.

The Prosecco of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene is made by following traditional rules that guarantee its unique and authentic flavor even after adapting to changes over the years. The sparkling Prosecco DOC of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene is recognized by its pale straw-yellow color and its moderate body, exclusive floral and fruity aroma. There are two versions of wines in this category: The Brut and the Extra Dry.

The Brut

The most modern of Prosecco wines, it has great acclaim. It is known for its rich aroma of citrus fruit, fresh vegetation and hints of bread crust together with exquisite energy.

It has a persistent taste that is clean on taste, making it absolutely an excellent wine the table. It may be served at 7-9° C and is an excellent combination to go with fish, vegetables, sea foods and baked fish or can be enjoyed throughout the entire meal itself.

The Extra Dry

The classic variety of wine combines the aromatic quality and the sapidity of the bubbles. It has a brilliant straw yellow color and has the aroma of rich and fresh fruit like the apple and pear, hint of citrus that fades into a floral fragrance. It has good acidity, and is soft and dry in the mouth. Perfect when served at 8 to 100C. It can accompany sea foods, vegetable soups, light meat sauce, pasta dishes, white meat and cheeses.

Osteria del Leone

Via dei Mulini 3
53027 Bagno Vignoni (Siena)
Tuscany
Tel: 39 0577 887300

Christmas not only means celebrations at home, cooking and having fun. It can also mean enjoying some exotic traditional dishes along with family and friends in any one of the restaurants out there. Osteria del Leone is worth a try!

Osteria del Leone is one of the oldest restaurants in Tuscany. The Romans had been using it as a resting place while returning from battles. This was followed by pilgrims who were on their visit to Rome.

The restaurant has large beams made of chestnut wood and red terracotta floors. There are about three rooms with tables and chairs for the diners. The restaurant has a private and beautiful garden that is surrounded by flower vases and terracotta pots. It would be a wonderful idea to have a lunch enjoying the shade of the garden or even a candle lit dinner in the night. You can enjoy traditional Tuscan dishes as well as Noble dishes that were served to the Noble Florentine families during Renaissance. The menu is also subject to the changes in the season and serving only fresh products. The list of wine is amazing too. The special seasonal delicacies that are not to be missed are the Crostini al Pomodoro and the dishes made out of the truffles or the Porcini mushrooms. Game and meat is just another reason to visit the Osteria del Leone.