Tuscany Travels Part II

I felt that this deserved its own post.  This was the best meal we had on our trip, and possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.  EVER.  It’s up there.  If you ever find yourself in Tuscany, be sure to stop here and order exactly what we had.  Thank you to our local tour guide Franco Fadda for taking us and ordering up this deliciousness!

After a day of winetasting around the hills of Tuscany, Franco decided to take us to a low key, local restaurant called Piccola Trattoria Guastini.  It’s nestled in the quaint town of Valiano and has spectacular views of the valley below.

We sat back as Franco spoke in Italian to our server and ordered up a storm.  Primo, our appetizers, came out one by one.  First was this crostini toscani.  It’s the perfect blend of capers, olive oil, beef (and probably a few other things) turned into this savory paste spread over a slab of bread. Drool.

Then this came out and I could have eaten a few more of these as my main.  It’s an eggplant “stack” with baked buffalo mozzarella (made in house) and tomato sauce- mouthwatering.  I tried ordering this dish throughout the rest of our trip and couldn’t find one anywhere that even closely compared.

Now to the main course, secondo.  First was their homemade tortellini.  These bad boys were stuffed to the brim with ricotta and topped with fresh tomatoes and basil.  Need I say more?

And onto my favorite and the dish I was most excited about, pici!  I had read about this dish before our trip and couldn’t wait to try.  Pici is thick, hand rolled pasta and is special to Tuscany as that’s where it originated.  The locals refer to it as “pinci”, but whatever you call it, it’s delicious.  Traditionally it’s served with a thick red tomato sauce, but they brought it out in their white sauce as well so we could try both.  We finished every last bite. Diets aren’t meant for Italy and can start when you get home…

We finished of course with some dessert, or as Italians say, dolce.  At this point I was struggling to eat anything else but the thought of never being able to try it again motivated me to sample every last plate. We shared this dish and I only wish I could have eaten more.  A dollop of fresh ricotta (everything is fresh in Italy!) drizzled with honey, pistachios and cinnamon.  If we were alone one of us would have probably licked the plate!  Pair this with a glass of chilled limoncello and life is good.

I’m dreaming of this meal already.  Please let me know if you pay Guastini a visit!  xx