As much as I loved Francis Mayes’ memoir Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy and the subsequent gorgeously filmed movie, I was a little leery of an Italian cookbook created by someone who wasn’t Italian. It turns out, though, that Mayes and her husband’s newest book, The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes from our Italian Kitchen, is actually, as Mayes puts it, “one long toast” to their Tuscan friends and the recipes they have shared with the expat couple over the years. With beautiful photos of their friends from Cortona, sweeping landscapes, backyard gardens, fresh ingredients and plated dishes, you will feel like you’ve been transported to Tuscany – and now you can cook like you have been.
In an effort to emulate my inner Tuscan, I chose a recipe for baked peppers because I could find all the necessary herbs in my garden. For someone who doesn’t like to spend hours in the kitchen and rarely plans ahead, these lines from the book’s introduction particularly spoke to me: “Tuscan food tastes like itself. Ingredients are left to shine, not combined with a list as long as your arm or tortured into odd combinations.” 
This easy-to-throw-together contorni turned out rich in taste but light enough to use as a starter for a long night of eating and drinking. Cin-Cin.
Baked Peppers with Ricotta and Basil
10 Servings
5 yellow, red or orange bell peppers
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups (1 lb.) whole-milk ricotta
1 Tbsp. torn fresh mint leaves
½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn, plus a few whole leaves for garnish
1 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary or 1½ tsp. dried
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves or 1½ tsp. dried
½ cup finely sliced green onions*
1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
2 eggs
½ cup (2 oz.) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 tsp. fennel flowers
2 Tbsp. fresh breadcrumbs, crisped in a little extra-virgin olive oil
• Heat a grill or turn the gas flame on the stove on high. Singe the peppers on the grill or the stovetop. I set them down right on the stove’s flame and keep turning them with tongs. In about 10 minutes, the pepper should char all over, but don’t cook them so long that they turn limp.**
• Cool in a medium bowl, and then slide off the burned skin. Cut in half and clean out the ribs and seeds. Rub inside and out with the olive oil.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, mint, basil, rosemary, thyme, green onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Beat in the eggs and Parmigiano.
• Fill the peppers with the mixture and top with the fennel flowers and breadcrumbs.
• Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and arrange the peppers.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until the ricotta is set to the touch and the breadcrumbs have browned. Garnish with basil leaves.
* I used red onions in place of green.
** I placed the peppers in a large pan over high heat, turning them until singed.
What are your favorite ingredients to bake inside of a pepper? Tell us in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes from our Italian Kitchen by Francis and Edward Mayes. We’ll announce the winner in next week’s By the Book column. And now, we’d like to congratulate Ray whose comment on last week’s By the Book column has won him a copy of Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 recipes for making your own ice cream and frozen treats from Bi-Rite Creamey. Ray, keep an eye out for an email from the Sauce crew.
This article appears in August 2012.