4 Days Organic Vegetarian Cooking Vacations in Tuscany

Day 1 - Arrival, cooking lesson

• Meet at the Arezzo train station at your scheduled time for free transfer.
• Upon arrival at the villa, enjoy a welcome aperitif snack buffet with prosecco wine tasting
• An introduction with the chef Fabrizio and the villa host, Marina, will follow. It's a chance to get to know each other and talking about the itinerary.
• In the late afternoon take your first cookery lesson where you can engage yourself in the art of Italian and Tuscany vegetarian cuisine technique with the aid of an expert Tuscan chef.
• Enjoy the results for dinner.
• Overnight: private apartment.
• Meal plan: dinner.

Day 2 - City tour, free time

• Following breakfast is a cultural tour in the historical city Arezzo. Lunch with drinks is included at a local trattoria Toscana.
• Free afternoon to relax by the pool with good glass of wine or walk in the magnificent scenery around the villa, through vineyards, olive groves and woodland.
• Return to the villa for an excellent gourmet dinner.
• Overnight: private apartment.
• Meal plan: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Day 3 - Cooking lesson, wine tour

• Enjoy your last cooking lesson where you will prepare farewell lunch.
• In the afternoon have a wine tasting tour in a prestigious winery.
• Return to the villa for a delicious crispy pizza calzone menu prepared for you by the master chef.
• Overnight: private apartment.
• Meal plan: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Day 4 - A warm arrivederci

• After breakfast and same time for relax you'll be taken back to the Arezzo central train station for a warm arrivederci.
• Departure on your own.
• Meal plan: breakfast.

The program may change slightly based on seasonality and availability of the cellars.

Arezzo city tour

Arezzo city origins are lost in the very ancient past. As the settlement grew, it eventually became an important Etruscan city, and was later part of Rome. Already in the 4th century Arezzo had become a Bishopric. It was occupied by the Lombards at the end of the 6th century and was strongly conditioned by their influence. In the Middle Ages, Arezzo was a free and powerful commune, often ruled by its Bishops who were Counts of the Holy Roman Empire.

The city was frequently at war, with Siena certainly, but above all with Florence and, in 1384, it was finally subjugated to Florentine rule. From then onwards, with the exception of two widespread rebellions in 1502 and 1529-30, Arezzo ‘s history runs parallel to the history of Florence and, later on, to the fortunes of Tuscany.

Today, the ancient center of the city retains all the fascination of its illustrious past. The principal buildings and monuments possess a wealth of Medieval and Renaissance art created by artists such as Cimabue, Piero della Francesa, Andrea della Robbia and Giorgio Vasari. Arezzo was the birthplace of the great poet Petrarch, and it became internationally famous as the backdrop to a widely acclaimed movie when some of the most beautiful corners of the city’s monumental center formed the setting for scenes in Roberto Benigni’s film “Life is Beautiful”, three-time Oscar winner in 1999.

This is Arezzo, the modern, hard-working, artistic city rooted in the past but renewing itself in the architecture of the present and in exhibitions of contemporary art, whose citizens, with their ingenuity and creativity, still find expression in the aromas and tastes of an ancient culinary tradition, in handcrafts of renowned quality, in a genuine sense of hospitality to tourists, and in such jewelry-making expertise that Arezzo is known worldwide as the “city of gold”.

Arezzo, city of the jousting tournament Giostra del Saracino, of the Antiques Fair and of the international polyphonic competition “Guido d’Arezzo”. Arezzo, a gem set amidst the gentle Tuscan hills, birthplace of so many illustrious personages that the distinguished poet Giosuè Carducci exclaimed that the territory of Arezzo alone is “sufficient to give glory to Italy!”

Distances

• Arezzo city center, 1 kilometer
• Cinque Terre, 240 kilometers (3 hours)
• Cortona, 20 kilometers (25 minutes)
• Florence, 68 kilometers (45 minutes)
• Gaiole in Chianti, 40 kilometers (40 minutes)
• Lucca, 170 kilometers (2 hours)
• Montalcino, 55 kilometers
• Montepulciano, 45 kilometers (45 minutes)
• Pisa, 150 kilometers (2 hours)
• Rome, 220 kilometers (2 hours)
• San Gimignano, 100 kilometers (1 to 2 hours)
• Siena, 60 kilometer (45 minutes)
• Venice, 320 kilometers (3 to 4 hours)

Sample menu

Appetizer

• Bruschette
• Cecina flat bread made with chickpea flour, served with Tuscany ham and stracchino cheese
• Eggplants parmigiana
• Marinated mussels
• Panzanella salad
• Panzerotti stuffed with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella
• Seasonal vegetable flan
• Spelt salad
• Tomato bruschetta
• Tuscany antipasto
• Zucchini flowers

Starter

• Black tagliatelle with truffle served with mushroom sauce
• Cannelloni with ricotta cheese and spinach
• Gnocchi di pane con ragù di salsiccia
• Gnocchi potatoes dumplings with tomato sauce or pesto
• Gundi served with truffle cream (typical dish of Arezzo with spinach and ricotta cheese ball)
• Handmade pasta
• Lasagna with Chianina beef ragu
• Pappardelle with chianina meat sauce ragu (Bolognese style)
• Pappardelle with duck sauce
• Ravioli filled with porcini mushroom served with truffle cream
• Ravioli ricotta e spinaci flavored with butter and sage
• Squid ink tagliolini
• Taglietelle with cream of mushrooms
• Tagliolini with carbonara sauce
• Tagliolini with seafood
• Tortelli with beetroot and asparagus gorgonzola cream
• Tortelli with pumpkin and ricotta cheese served with truffle butter
• Vegetable lasagna

Rice dishes

• Risotto granny Landa
• Risotto with chianti and season pecorino cheese
• Risotto with porcini mushrooms
• Risotto with saffron and melted robiola cheese
• Seafood risotto

Soups

• Cacciucco (fish soup)
• Carbaccia the real onion soup
• Creamed chickpeas and truffle
• Moscardini al guazzetto (baby octopus stew)
• Pappa al pomodoro
• Porcini mushroom soup
• Ribollita
• Spelt and legume soup

Main course served with seasonal side dish

• Baby octopus stew
• Beef meatballs Tuscany style with tomato sauce
• Chicken stuffed with peppery sausage served with wine gravy
• Eggplant parmesan
• Escalope of veal with lemon
• Escalope with porcini mushrooms
• Fagioli all’uccelletta with peppery sausages
• Guinea fowl in hunting style sauce
• Involtino alla pizzaiola
• Peposo (Renaissance dish of Tuscan traditional made with beef cooked in Chianti wine)
• Pizza calzone stuffed, served with tomatoes and oregano cream
• Pork fillet rolled
• Roll of turkey stuffed
• Rosticciana stufata (stewed pork ribs with black olives and pine nuts)
• Salmon in crust
• Shoulder of lamb Tuscany style
• Stuffed squid
• The real crispy pizza
• Tomatoes stuffed with rice and meat ragu
• Zucchini flowers stuffed
• Zucchini stuffed Tuscan style

Desserts

• Cantucci di prato con vinsanto (typical Tuscan biscuits with almonds served with Vin Santo sweet wine)
• Castagnaccio (traditional cake with chestnuts flower served with pistachios ice cream)
• Chef Fabrizio tiramisù
• Chocolate fondant
• Chocolate panna cotta
• Gato
• Grandmother cake
• Limoncello tiramisù
• Profiterole
• Ricotta cheese cake and chocolate
• Strudel
• Vanilla panna cotta with seasonal fruit and chocolate coulis
• Zuppa Inglese (delicious spoon dessert of the Tuscan Renaissance tradition)

MangiarDivino can cater to your special dietary requirements. Please let your host know in advance.

Chocolate tour (at extra price)

Historical hamlet tours (at extra price)

Medieval olive oil mil and olive oil tasting tours (at extra price)

Special event guided tours (medieval touraments and others) available on request

Val d’Orcia (Siena province) tour (at extra price)

• 2 hands-on cooking lessons with the aid of professional Italian chef
• 3 nights accommodation in private apartment
• *All taxes
• *Complimentary transfer to and from train station
• *Daily meals with drinks
• *Excursions to the historical sites with meal at typical trattorias
• *Seasonal organic ingredients from MangiarDivino's production

• Additional tours
• Airfare
• Extra drinks
• Museum entrance fee
• Personal expenses
• Tips
• Train fare
• Transfer to from airport (extra price available on request)