Spring in the plate

The Garmugia is a typical soup from the city of Lucca, a true celebration of spring first fruits: asparagus, fresh peas, artichokes, fava beans and pearl onions. The dish is simple, and its particularity is precisely the seasonality of the ingredients: only for a few weeks a year, in fact, it is possible to find these ingredients - all together! - on the market stalls.
After the bacon and ground meat are seasoned in the wilted onions, all the carefully cleaned and chopped vegetables and the broth are added.
Finally, toasted bread and extra virgin olive oil give the final touch to the dish, in a triumph of spring scents, flavors and colors.Gli asparagi alla fiorentina

Fresh fava beans are one of the tastiest products of spring: between April and May they are at their best, and there are many recipes for enjoying them. One of the best known is definitely the stew, a rich, flavorful and easy-to-cook side dish.
Made with chopped onion and some bacon - and pulled together with water or broth - this dish can also be a main course, perhaps after a light first course.
The unmistakable taste of fava beans lends itself to a variety of combinations, but stew - simple and wholesome - is certainly one of the best ways to cook them.

The Torta co’ becchi (Cake with beaks) is a rustic cake that combines sweet and savory flavors.
Typical of the Lucca area, it has a shortcrust pastry base and a filling of chards, pine nuts, raisins, stale bread, rice and sugar.
The dough cannot lack spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and Breckland thyme that make it really fragrant and unusual.
The cake is a real specialty both because of the becchi (beaks), which are created by cutting the dough with scissors to form the spikes that give the recipe its name, and because of the presence of sugar in the savory filling.
In any self-respecting spring picnic, this recipe cannot miss, which is also excellent cold and to be eaten strictly with your hands!

The Pan di Ramerino (Bread of Ramerino) is a Florentine dessert that is traditionally prepared during Lent.
It is a soft, sweet loaf with a leavened bread dough characterized by the addition of raisins and rosemary (ramerino in Tuscan dialect).
The inviting and unmistakable aroma is reminiscent of outdoor dining, the laid tables of the holidays and the cheerfulness of the good weather.