Amici Miei/ Germana Conti
Many of my mentors I met at the Mercato San Lorenzo in Florence. I shopped there for 20 years.
The Mercato di San Lorenzo was like my second home for twenty years. I rented an apartment overlooking the back piazza to teach from. Over the years, I created many favorite vendors. The ground floor was the butchers, bakers, pasta shops and a few bars. Originally, the fruit and vegetables were upstairs in the market with the exception of a few stands downstairs.
I often went to a vegetable stand on the ground floor owned by the Conti family.
The Conti Family has been in the San Lorenzo Market for four generations. When I first started shopping there, Mario and his wife Germana ran the stand with their two sons, Stefano and Andrea. (The shop is now closed; there is a restaurant in its place.)
Germana was always willing to share her recipes. When their family gets together, holiday dinners are for about 35 people, so you know she is a great cook. There are recipes I always make in summer and this is one of my favorites. It is wonderful room temperature. I feel like Germana is in the kitchen with me.
This recipe is also made in a nearby town Pistoia for the festival of Saint Ann, July 26.
