Twelve: A Tuscan Cookbook by Tessa Kiros

    • Categories: Appetizers / starters; Italian
    • Ingredients: olive oil; Gorgonzola cheese; polenta
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Notes about this book

  • Breadcrumbs on August 10, 2010

    p. 240 - Fagioli Cannellini all'olio is excellent. Very authentic flavours, reminded us of crostini we had in Rome.

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Oven-baked potato and onion slices (Teglia di papate con cipolle)

    • Ganga108 on November 01, 2021

      Lovely. Manage the liquid amount carefully - use no more than stated. It needed to cook a lot longer in a terracotta pot. It is an easy dish to make - slices of potatoes and onions cooked with bay leaves, wine and olive oil. Bakes for 40 mins covered and 30 uncovered, but I found it cooked a lot longer than specified. If you get the liquid amount right it can be served in squares. I cooked it in a terracotta pot. It looks fabulous when cooked. I used too much liquid but it was still oozy good. Delicious! (I made it quite peppery!)

  • Chickpea soup (Zuppa di ceci)

  • Penne with sausage, walnuts and cream (Penne alla Senese)

    • Breadcrumbs on January 06, 2013

      p. 48 - Good but very rich. We felt the walnut flavour was somewhat overpowering and the texture was mealy. Made this in 2007 & haven't repeated since then.

    • catmummery on May 02, 2025

      delicious, i added black garlic and parsley.

    • janeths on May 08, 2026

      This was good but the flavour depends on the sausage flavour and my choice was a bit bland.

  • Sausages and beans (Salsicce e fagioli)

    • treay on May 11, 2026

      Nice recipe. I added some red wine and parsley to the sauce.

  • Broad bean and pecorino salad (Baccelli e pecorino)

    • Ganga108 on November 01, 2021

      This is the simplest of Broad Bean and Pecorino Salads, but no less wonderful. Just a moment to prepare if using young and fresh beans that don't require blanching or double peeling. First made this in 2017 and it's remained a favourite.

  • Mixed vegetable soup (Minestrone)

    • Ganga108 on November 01, 2021

      So similar to other minestrone recipes, so of course it is going to be flavoursome. Somehow I miss the beans or lentils in this recipe.

  • Cherries preserved in syrup (Ciliege in sciroppo)

    • Ganga108 on February 25, 2022

      This is the same as the previous recipe but bottled to preserve them.

  • Cherry jam (Marmellata di ciliege)

    • Ganga108 on November 01, 2021

      Simply the best cherry jam. It is lovely to make cherry jam in December. Pitting the cherries is the pits tho! And the kitchen looks like a murder scene! Simmered the cumquat seeds left over from making cumquat chutney to extract the pectin. Added the juice of a lime. For flavours - as I always play with jam - I added bay leaf, pippali and cinnamon stick. Simmered 20 mins then added the sugar (a little less than in the recipe), then boiled 30 mins before placing in jars. It was quite delicious, a deep bleeding red, set beautifully, just oozy enough. A chunky jam, beautiful.

  • Spaghetti with zucchini (Spaghetti con zucchini)

    • rhonda_86pwsq on April 08, 2026

      Very quick and easy with fresh simple flavors. Mine was cooked with gluten free pasta so pasta is a little less defined in photo. Served ours with chilli oil as suggested in recipe and a good ciabatta.

  • Risotto with zucchini (Risotto con zucchini)

    • JoD on February 04, 2019

      A tasty risotto - I made this with yellow skinned zucchini and it was good. Green would be more visually interesting.

  • Pizza

    • micheleK on February 28, 2011

      Weighed flour - added extra 1/4 cup. Dough still too sticky.

  • Veal with tuna, caper and anchovy mayonnaise (Vitello tonnato)

    • Bradley on November 16, 2025

      Superb. Best I have ever tasted

  • Fried zucchini flowers (Fiori di zucca fritti)

    • Ganga108 on November 01, 2021

      I have other recipes that I use for fried zucchini flowers (this one contains eggs and i don't cook with eggs), but the addition of white wine to the batter is a nice touch.

    • Ganga108 on February 25, 2022

      Love the addition of white wine in this recipe, but used an egg-free batter (with wine) instead of the one in the recipe.

  • Plum cake (Torta di susine)

    • j_knapp on December 16, 2021

      one of my favourite summer cakes. Completely foolproof and so delicious.

  • Mixed salad with apple and nuts (Insalata mista con mele e noci)

    • Melanie on April 29, 2014

      This makes a huge bowl of salad. I added an extra apple and used a slightly different mix of lettuces. Used toasted walnuts, pine nuts and slivered almonds. Dress at the time of serving - does not hold up well.

  • Baked trout with capsicums (Trota in forno con peperoni)

    • lou_weez on March 04, 2022

      Made this using salmon and only used red and yellow capsicum. It was so good. Will make this again.

  • Mixed roasted vegetables (Verdure miste arrosto)

    • Ganga108 on March 26, 2025

      P239 in my book

  • Cannellini beans with olive oil (Fagioli cannellini all'olio)

    • Breadcrumbs on January 06, 2013

      p. 240 - Excellent! Made these in Aug. w fresh beans from the farmer's market. Cooked them for approx 1 hour until they reached the creamy texture we were looking for. Served w EVOO and sea salt on crostini. Delicious. K loved these.

    • Ganga108 on November 01, 2021

      2021: Absolutely divine! Brothy. I used lima beans, and added greek oregano, black pepper and some lemon juice.

    • Ganga108 on January 10, 2022

      2020: I used lima beans in this recipe. Divinely delicious! No celery so added oregano from the garden and some of my home dried herbs. Salt and pepper and a squeeze of citrus (I used cumquats) when cooked to lift the dish to the next level. Divine! (Did I say that already?)

  • Cannellini beans cooked in tomato (Fagioli cannellini all'uccelletto)

    • Ganga108 on January 10, 2022

      Another absolutely delicious dish from Twelve. I used Lima Beans instead of Cannellini Beans and cooked them with passata and the herbs (and liquid) for 1 hour. A beautiful thick sauce. Loved this dish a lot.

  • Grilled bread with mushrooms (Crostone ai funghi)

    • rhonda_86pwsq on April 20, 2026

      Easy and light meal. We had some left over crunchy sourdough croutons from a previous meal so added them to the mushrooms instead of serving them with toasted sourdough. Left off parsley as we had none however I think the dish definitely needs it to add the fresh notes.

  • Crostini with pears, Gorgonzola and honey (Crostini con pere, Gorgonzola e miele)

    • Melanie on April 29, 2014

      Substituted Brie for the Gorgonzola - delicious. Loved the mix of creamy cheese with sweet pears.

  • Pici pasta with porcini (Pici alla boscaiola)

    • Breadcrumbs on January 06, 2013

      p. 257 The fact that this wasn’t a huge hit has nothing to do w the recipe, rather it was our very expensive porcini that proved to disappoint. I was so excited to find porcini, imported from Italy at our Italian fish market that I didn’t stop to think that because they were frozen, they might not produce optimal results. The mushrooms were waterlogged and even after being pressed of any excess moisture, they were off-puttingly slimy. I forged ahead hoping that this ragu would somehow improve matters but in the end the flavourful ragu was no match for the slimy shrooms. The flavour of the sauce was outstanding and I’d love to make this again w fresh mushrooms. Lesson learned. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884856#7809457

    • treay on May 10, 2026

      I used fettuccini instead because I thought it was too laborious to make the pici. The sauce was very yummy! I made a couple of changes from the recipe itself. I only used half of the crushed tomato - I thought 800g was a bit too much - and also added some cream once the sauce was cooked. (Years ago we used to order boscaiola at a restaurant in our town and we loved it. I remember that their recipe had quite a bit of cream......) Lovely recipe.

  • Baked fennel (Finocchi gratinati)

    • treay on November 10, 2024

      The fennel was delicious and went well with the pork. Also added some steamed potatoes as suggested in the pork recipe. All in all, a very delicious dinner!

  • Apple cake (Torta di mele)

  • Chicken with red wine, pine nuts and sultanas (Pollo alla Chiantigiana)

    • enalawso on August 14, 2014

      foolproof recipe; I add some mushrooms and I slice the onions and carrots thinly, rather than chop finely.

  • Flat bread with olives (Focaccia con olive)

    • amraub on August 23, 2012

      The weight measurement for the olives seems very high unless it was supposed to include the oil as well that is drained off. I think next time, I would prefer to have the olives chopped before they are included in the bread as the whole olives did not look very visually appealing to me.

  • Simple tomato sauce (Pomarola semplice)

    • littleacorn on June 14, 2024

      The olive oil didn’t mix in so I would use less than the recipe states next time. Seems a waste otherwise. Tastes delicious though!

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  • ISBN 10 1740456378
  • ISBN 13 9781740456371
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Oct 01 2005
  • Format Paperback
  • Page Count 416
  • Language English
  • Countries Australia
  • Publisher Murdoch Books
  • Imprint Murdoch Books

Publishers Text

This personal cookbook reflects the Siena-based author's love of the cuisine of her adopted homeland. Its title refers to the seasonal nature of the recipes within, with the chapters divided into the 12 months of the year. It is about the food of Tuscany, seasonal cooking and fine ingredients. It is the author's aim in this book to share some of the delights that have been part of her life in Italy: more than an informative guide, it outlines the basic goings-on that occur on Tuscan stove tops, in a region whose culinary fame is steadfastly rooted among the hills and within tradition. With exquisite photos of Tuscany and her family and neighbours, this books aims to entice and inspire the reader to live the Tuscan life.

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