A time-travelling conceit in the Fra Angelico bedroom
Travel in time and space! Come and meet a cool 1960s girl in a mini-dress in Toulouse-Lautrec’s Paris studio (in a Watermill bedroom!) What would Fra Angelico, the Dominican…
Artistic insights, food for thought, and recipes
Panzanella
Panzanella: a classical Florentine salad with painterly associations…. Panzanella is a famous Florentine salad, also popular in other parts of Tuscany (notably Posara!). Its basic ingredients are bread and…
Pesto rice
Our girls have always loved this dish, and usually request it when they come to stay. It’s great for dinner parties because you can prepare it in advance right up…
Tiramisù
Lois uses a mix of mascarpone and ricotta for a lighter version of this heavenly pud. Ingredients (serves 6) 3 large eggs, separated50g caster sugar125g mascarpone125g ricotta24 sponge fingers…
Tuscan lentils
Lois loves this dish because it just blips away while she’s doing other things in the kitchen, and then transforms from something merely hearty to something utterly delectable at the…
Courgette, pea and basil soup
This is a sublimely tasting, vibrant green soup, bursting with Italian flavour with its basil, garlic and olive oil. It can be served chilled in Summer. Thank you for the…
Pappa al pomodoro
This is actually based on a Jamie Oliver recipe but is the tastiest Lois has found for this traditional Tuscan soup. We serve it warm in delicate ceramic spoons, so…
Salmon with a pistacchio crust
One of the marvellous things about this dish is that it’s almost impossible to overcook the salmon – the crust seems to keep the flesh so succulent. And for those…
Amaretto mousse ice-cream
Lois likes making this ice cream because it is a cinch (in that you don’t need an ice cream maker or the patience of a saint), it tastes fantastic and…
Gorgonzola soufflées
Lois serves these twice-baked soufflés on our creative courses, to universal acclaim. They are an ‘Italianised’ version of a Delia Smith recipe (Delia uses Roquefort instead of Gorgonzola), tasting delicately…