Ciancifricola – many names for this Tuscan recipe with tomato

Ciancifricola – many names for this Tuscan recipe with tomato

A delicious tomato and egg soup, in the Siena‘s countryside it is also called picchio pacchio. Here you find it in the Fattoria del Colle, farmhouse in Tuscany

Rewritten from the housewives by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

This is a main course for those who get home half an hour before dinner and still are able to put something delicious on the table. In a more refined meal the ciancifricola becomes finger food to be served in small bowls.

It definitely originates from a long time ago even though not quite Medieval. Surely though in the 19^th century the ciancifricola used to be served halfway through the morning, so as to give the farmers some energy, during the heavy summer jobs. In the villages in the Sienese countryside it changes name and becomes pomodorata or picchio pacchio although with some minute variations, the recipe remains the same.

What is best served to drink together with this dish? I would say a young wine,

predominantly Sangiovese, like my Chianti Superiore where the austerity of the wine balances out the sweetness of the tomato.

Ingredients for 4 people recipe:

¼ of an onion, one peperoncino, 3 spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil,1 kgof peeled tomatoes with their juice,1 litreof meat stock, 200g of  Tuscan bread, 4 chicken eggs and 4 quail eggs, sale.

Preparation:

Chop the onion finely and fry in the olive oil together with the peperoncino. As soon a sit starts to colour ad the tomatoes, roughly chopped, together with their juice. Add salt and continue the cooking over a moderate flame for about half an hour adding the stock slowly and stirring often. Beat the eggs and add to them when the soup boils.

Complete the cooking time for a few more minutes. At the same time slice the Tuscan bread, toast it in the oven and put it on the bottom of the bowls. Pour on top the ciancifricola and on top of that a quail’s egg. Serve hot.