Food in Florence

While Florence wasn't first on our trip, I think it was when we realized we hadn't been taking photos of all the delicious food we were eating! Hence, it comes first in the Italy posts. 

We had a great meal on our second night in Florence. Paul and I spent a lot of time on vacation wandering around, trying to find someplace to eat or grab a glass of wine. We had been strolling around Florence, and came across Cibreo. The restaurant was full, and they were only able to seat us if we shared a table with another group. We were hungry, and the food looked great -- so we went for it. 

We ended up both ordering first and second courses...and a dessert. The sides were "a surprise!" (i.e. picked by the kitchen staff to accompany our second course). Enjoy!

Paul's first: it was a thick, stew that tasted just like minestrone. Delish!

My first: polenta with olive oil and freshly grated Parmsean.

Paul's main: guanciale

Paul's side: a broccoli mousse

My main: a cuttlefish dish, with a sauce made from squid ink (I assumed so, because of the color)

My side: a beet salad! It's like they knew I was coming.

The remains of our dessert. I think it was panna cotta?

My Life for the Last Week

Yup. This has been my life (along with soups, stews and overcooked pasta) for the last week or so after having dental surgery. I feel bad that I was so energized after returning from Italy, only to fall flat on my face and not really cook anything since we've been back. I'm hoping that I'll be back to eating real food within the next couple days and can get back to cooking!


In the meantime, I'll try to update with Italy food photos amid my ice packs. 

Riobollita

I've been dying to make our own version of ribollita after having it while we were in Italy. This week ended up being perfect for it, as I'm on a temporary soft food diet while some dental work heals. 

Lots of people had comments on the ingredients, what should be included, excluded, etc. I made the recipe as listed, but instead of adding in bread crumbs, I added some Italian bread (about 2 - 3 thick slices), ripped into big pieces. I added them in at the end, and it helped thicken everything up into more of a stew. 

I topped it with a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Totally delicious...even if I was gumming down everything. I think you could mix up and add some other vegetables (I'm envisioning squash) if you wanted, maybe cutting down a little on the cannellini beans.