Panoramic vistas and olive fields flank the country road that leads to Giulia Scarpaleggia’s Tuscan kitchen in Colle Val d’Elsa, between Firenze (Florence) and Siena. It’s here that Giulia, perhaps best known by her blog name, Juls’ Kitchen, bakes, cooks, writes, and teaches. Her kitchen looks out over the rolling hills of Toscana, where you’ll find her dogs lounging in the warm sun and chickens staying busy next to the garden her mother tends for the family. Giulia shares her family’s compound with her photographer husband, Tommaso, and their daughter as well as her parents and grandmother. The stone farmhouse is steeped in more than family history; it was used as a post office in World War II by both German and US forces. Today, Giulia is making history of her own as she documents the meaningful recipes that represent her family’s life in Tuscany and welcomes guests around her kitchen table for cooking and baking.
Giulia is the author of five cookbooks, including From the Markets of Tuscany. She is working on her sixth cookbook now. Connect with Giulia at julskitchen.com and @julskitchen on Instagram. You can also sign up for her delightful newsletter at julskitchen.substack.com.
FARRO AND RICOTTA TART
Makes 1 (9-inch) tart
This is the perfect tart to bake as an afternoon snack, though it would
