Serves 4

2 tbsp capers
4 tbsp black olives, pitted
3 salted anchovy fillets,
3-4 tomatoes (big meaty ones)
2 tbsp tomato passata
30 g fresh basil
5 tbsp olive oil. extra virgin.
salt and pepper
400 g spaghetti

Rinse and chop the anchovies finely. Chop the olives.
Put all ingredients except the spaghetti, basil and 3 tbsp of the oil in a saucepan.
Mix together and leave to rest.

Boil the spaghetti in plenty of salted water. Make sure to take it off the flame and drain it while still al dente. Save some of the boiling water for the sauce.

Put the saucepan on the flame, add the spaghetti and some of the boiling water and toss. Tear the basil and add to the sauce together with the remaining olive oil. Toss again.
Serve.

Serves 4

1 large fennel bulb
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

4 pork chops
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
4 lemon wedges

Trim off the fennel fronds. Save to decorate the plate. Slice the fennel very thin, crosswise.
Chop the parsley and ad to the salad.
Make the dressing by whisking the lemon juice with the olive oil.
Add the salt and a little pepper to taste.
Serve with the fennel fronds as decoration.

Take meat out of the fridge at least an hour prior to grilling to allow it to come to room temperature. Just before grilling it, use paper towels to remove all moisture from the surface of the meat. Salt and pepper liberally and grill immediately.
Grill the pork chop at high temperature on the barbecue or a grill pan. A steak that is 1.5 cm thick should be grilled for 2 minutes on each side or until its cooked thru.

Remove the bone and slice thinly. Drizzle the cut meat with extra virgin olive oil and season. Serve immediately with the fennel salad and a lemon wedge.

4 big fresh ripe tomatoes
1 medium red onion
1 medium cucumber
3 sticks of celery
½ kilo of dry (stale) Tuscan unsalted bread
A handful of basil
A handful of parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Remove the crust from the bread and soak it in water until soft.
Squeeze the bread dry in a cloth and crumble it into small pieces.
Cut the onion into thin strips. Peel the cucumber and cut into cubes. Cut celery and tomato into cubes.
Tear up the basil roughly. Chop the parsley.

Mix the bread with the vegetables. Dress with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

1 large fennel bulb
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Handful of Italian flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

4 pork chops
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
4 lemon wedges

Trim off the fennel fronds.  Save to decorate the plate.  Slice the fennel very thin, crosswise.
Chop the parsley and ad to the salad.
Make the dressing by whisking the lemon juice with the olive oil.
Add the salt and a little pepper to taste.
Serve with the fennel fronds as decoration.

Take meat out of the fridge at least an hour prior to grilling to allow it to come to room temperature.  Just before grilling it, use paper towels to remove all moisture from the surface of the meat.  Salt and pepper liberally and grill immediately.
Grill the pork chop at high temperature on the barbecue or a grill pan. A steak that is 1.5 cm thick should be grilled for 2 minutes on each side or until its cooked thru.

Remove the bone and slice thinly. Drizzle the cut meat with extra virgin olive oil and season.  Serve immediately with the fennel salad and a lemon wedge.

1 small yellow onion
2 tbsp olive oil
85g butter
4 – 6 small artichokes
½ lemon
500g risotto rice, preferably carnaroli or arborio
250 ml dry white wine
1.5 litres chicken stock
75g parmesan cheese, grated
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the artichokes. Peel off hard outer leaves until your reach the soft waxy ones. Peel stalk. Remove choke if necessary. Slice artichokes and immediately soak in acidulated water (water with juice of half a lemon).

Finely chop the onion. Heat the stock and keep it on a constant simmer.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, sweat the onion in some butter. Cook until the onion is cooked but not browned. Add the rice, stirring to coat the grains in the butter. Stir the rice until the grains begin to go translucent. Add the wine and stir until the wine is absorbed. Add the drained artichokes.

Start adding the hot stock, a ladle at a time, allowing the liquid to be completely absorbed before adding the next. Stir continuously for about 15 minutes. Keep the heat quite high throughout the cooking period.

Test the rice and if necessary, add more stock. The rice is done when the outside is tender but the centre is still slightly hard. At this stage, take the rice off the heat immediately as it will continue to cook. Leave it to rest for a minute. Add the butter first and then the cheese while whisking vigorously. Season with pepper and salt (if necessary)
Serve immediately.

The risotto should be creamy and is usually eaten with a fork.

Prepare dough. Make a well of flour. Crack whole eggs and egg yolks into the center of the well. Stir eggs with a fork gradually incorporating flour from the walls of the well. Stir with fork until dough is firm enough to knead with hands. Keep kneading and incorporating flour until very firm and no longer tacky (approximately 250 g flour and 10 minutes of kneading). Cover with cling film and rest in refrigerator for an hour.

Prepare stuffing. Blanch the spinach in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Drain the spinach and let it cool. Squeeze out the excess water from the spinach (needs to be very dry). Drain the excess water from the ricotta using a cheesecloth.

Chop the spinach and mix it with the ricotta. Add the yolk, parmesan cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Cut pasta dough into four or more parts. Knead dough using the widest setting of a pasta machine. Gradually roll out pasta sheets working through the settings of the pasta machine always adding a dusting of flour to the pasta sheet before rolling it through the machine. Once sheets have been through the finest setting of the machine, spoon out filling onto sheet. Place another sheet of pasta on top, squeeze out air and cut out ravioli. Either freeze immediately or leave on a well-floured surface for up to an hour.

To serve, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water until as salty as a soup. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pan with the sage. When the water has come to a boil, add ravioli and cook until the ravioli float to the surface. Fish out ravioli and place in pan with butter. Add a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Toss. Serve warm.

We wake up early. The valley is covered in mist

We take the gravel road from Monteronterongriffoli

To the forrest

Luciano Tognazzi. Truffle Hunter

Luciano and Ugo

On our way to the hunt

Ugo has found something

Ankhura is a 4-room family-run hotel situated in the medieval hamlet of Monterongriffoli in the heart of the Tuscan countryside. Since opening in 2001, Ankura has welcomed travellers from all corners of the world who have come to experience Tuscany.

Monterongriffoli, or Griffin Mountain, is a medieval farming village located in the heart of the Crete Senesi. What was once a bustling community of farmers, glass blowers, cobblers and blacksmiths, is now a lazy Tuscan hamlet with beautiful reminders of a bygone era and a population of nine (including us!).

Monterongriffoli is surrounded by a quintessential Tuscan landscape with undulating hills and spectacular views of the Asso valley. Several walking paths originate from Monterongriffoli, offering long challenging hikes for the more experienced, as well as short walks suitable for pre-breakfast strolls.

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the water a little at a time, stirring with your hands until a dough is formed. You may need more or less water, depending on the humidity in your kitchen.

Place the dough on a floured work surface and knead it like bread until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Make two equally sized balls from the dough. Roll each ball of dough with a rolling pin until it is about 0,5 cm thick and cover it with olive oil. (This will prevent it from getting dry while rolling the pici) Let it stand for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Cut the doug in to 1 cm wide stripes.
Pull the stripe gently and start rolling until it has the shape of a long thick spaghetti. (They don’t all have to have the exact same shape. They are made by hand!!!)
“Drag” the pici through a pile of flour and leave it to rest.

Remove the skin from the sausages and chop them finely. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onion, and fry gently until soft. Add the sausages and stir to brown a little, then add the whine, lemon zest and reduce until almost dry.

Cook the pici in plenty of boiling salted water (should taste like salty soup) for about 4-5 minutes. Toss with the sauce, some boiling water and Parmesan cheese. Add the parsley and some extra olive oil.

Serve right away.