As you know, Italians love their food, so you can imagine that on an Italian wedding menu there will be more dishes than on the standard wedding menu.

Tuscan wedding menus are usually structured as follows:

– Canapes -A variety of various starters

– two first courses (usually pasta, rice or ravioli)

– two main dishes

– side dishes

– Wedding cake

– coffee and Tuscan digestive liqueurs

As in many rural areas of Italy, in the past Tuscan farmers did not have much meat available, so they used a lot of legumes and vegetables in their diet and it was not even contemplated to throw away the leftover bread. Food was considered primarily a gift from Mother Earth. Panzanella, for example, is a cold bread salad made with pieces of bread, tomatoes, onions, and basil. Many delicious recipes are purely vegan! In fact, you will be amazed at how many traditional vegetarian Tuscan dishes to choose from.

Let’s take a look one by one. Let me emphasize one thing first. The freshness of the ingredients is always something to look for. Weddings are generally held in hot weather, so there are plenty of great options in terms of veggies too.

SOFAS

Tuscany offers a variety of them.

Canapes are usually a rich variety of different antipasti served as a buffet.

In summer tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplants are at their best, which is why I personally suggest including

Bruschettas with fresh tomatoes and basil or crostini, small types of bruschettas made with unsalted Tuscan bread, with sautéed zucchini and aubergines. Delicious, delicious, delicious!

Not many people know that zucchini also produce a flower. This is an edible flower and is widely used in Tuscan summer recipes. One way to eat a zucchini flower is to fry it. This is a true Tuscan delicacy! Zucchini flowers are only available in summer.

If you eat cheese, Tuscan pecorino is another great ingredient for canapes. This can be served on its own or with mustards and honey sauces. This is how Italians like to taste their cheese.

Tomatoes seem to be king in summer, so feel free to add this ingredient as much as you like, in addition to the bruschettas, as you won’t be disappointed in the end result. The panzanella as described above is a delicious salad where the taste of fresh tomatoes and basil really stands out. Even little things like cheese-filled cherry tomatoes can make a big difference on canapes.

FIRST RACES

Well, this is pasta time! Ravioli with fresh ripe tomatoes dressed with the most aromatic Tuscan olive oil or a succulent risotto with Vernaccia wine (an exquisite type of white wine that is only produced in the San Gimignano area).

If you don’t eat cheese, don’t worry, you could find your place in heaven with Pici all’aglione.

Pici is a type of Tuscan pasta from Siena. It is a very thick type of spaghetti and is traditionally eaten with rich tomatoes and garlic sauce.

Homemade pesto or seasonal veggie ragout make great sauces too.

Pasta or risotto with zucchini flowers are also amazing and purely Tuscan!

If you like the idea of ​​having soup, you can opt for Ribollita, a traditional recipe from Florence made with various types of vegetables, beans, and served with grilled bread. The author loves this particular dish and highly recommends it any time of the year (it’s a winter soup really, but so delicious, you won’t disagree with me!).

MAIN DISH

You can substitute the classic Florentine steak for a delicious plate of “Melanzane alla parmigiana”. I’ll describe it to you but please don’t hold me responsible if your mouth is watering. It is made of layers of baked aubergine stuffed with fresh tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella cheese, seasoned with the purest and most fragrant olive oil, what we call “extra virgin”.

Or you can choose from different types of vegetable soufflés, baked stuffed vegetables with various fillings, the traditional one is breadcrumbs and parsley with olive oil, etc. Being summer the selection of vegetables available is very wide.

As for the garnishes, you can try roasted potatoes with olive oil and rosemary (a very Tuscan aroma!), Stewed vegetables in the Tuscan style or glazed onions made with a special type of onion grown in the Certaldo area, near Florence .

Last but not least is the wedding cake!

Well, here the Millefoglie is the queen of all cakes. Heavenly layers of fragrant puff pastry filled with fresh vanilla cream and topped with cream and decorated with juicy strawberries. For a delicious vegan serving of Tuscan rice pudding made with soy milk.

The wedding cake is served with coffee. Before asking yes, Espresso, what else? And digestive liqueurs like limoncello, grappa etc.

As you can see, Tuscany has it all!