Sono Lucchesa

We headed to Lucca for a too-brief stay before heading out the next morning to Ponte-a-Moriano and a visit with relatives. We made the most of our time in Lucca, shopping, dining, and circumnavigating the city on the large wall that surrounds it. We stopped for an excellent tasting slice of Torta di Verdura (local specialty that my grandmother made and I love) now called Torta Antica, basically because it's an old-fashion dessert relegated to the past. We also ordered a whole torte from the bakery near our B&B to take to our friends in Florence. We were very disappointed that it was made with spinach. Below is a picture of the perfect slice of torta and our family recipe for Torta di Verdura that I got from my relatives while living and studying in Florence 43 years ago.

Torta di Verdura

Pasta:
2 cups flour
1 cube butter
4 eggs
1 package of yeast
1 lemon's peel, grated
1 cup sugar
1 small glass of liquer -- such as creme di cacao

Filling:
1 1/2 cups of moistened bread
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup golden raisins
4 eggs
Small bunch of parsley chopped fine
1 clove garlic smashed and chopped
1/4 cup grated cheese (parmesan and romano)
Sugar to sweeten, to taste
1 bunch (fist size) of swiss chard (cooked)

Instructions:
For crust, mix all ingredients, kneed, and pat into torte pan.
For filling, mix all ingredients and put into crust.
Place in hot oven, approximately 375 degrees, for 1 hour or until brown.

Variation:
Add 1 cup of candied citrus and candied cherries to the filling.






In Lucca, we stayed at a B&B, La Magnolia (www.lamagnolia.com) in the center of town. Lucca has awakened in the past five or six years (according to B&B's owner) to become a trendy town with wonderful shops and great food. La Magnolia has only five rooms overlooking a private, "savage" garden. We awoke to the loud chirping of birds but no street sounds what-so-ever. A brother and sister own the B&B but both have day jobs. He is an architect by day and innkeeper by night and weekends. We would recommend it. He also recommended a terrific restaurant -- GiGi -- nearby. Tom had his first and only hair cut in Lucca. The town inside the wall is, of course, Medieval, is the hometown of Pucci, and is beautiful and well-preserved.