A January worth savouring: three Tuscan recipes for winter

pubblicato 09-01-2023

A January worth savouring: three Tuscan recipes for winter

We are now in the heart of the cold season. The Christmas festivities over, we are ready to enjoy the warmth of the home accompanied by our favourite wines and recipes. January, with its bitterly cold days, tempts us to stay in the comfort of domestic warmth among ovens and cookers. Here, then, are some all-Tuscan tips to enrich your winter with taste and flavour. Recipes that recall the great peasant tradition and the fascinating rural civilisation of our region. We will accompany each of them (need we say it?) with a good glass of Carpineto wine. Ready? Let's get started.

Ribollita and Carpineto Chianti Classico

Let's start with a must of Tuscan winter cuisine. Ribollita is a dish that best expresses the peasant philosophy of: "waste nothing in the kitchen". Black cabbage, cannellini beans and stale bread, the Tuscan kind without salt, are the main ingredients; but for a proper ribollita you also need other components: Swiss chard, Savoy cabbage, potatoes, vegetable broth, chopped onion, carrot and celery, tomato paste, plus spices, oil, salt and pepper. The name of the dish speaks for itself: it is called ribollita because the soup, cooked in large quantities, is "reboiled" in the following days to reheat it.

This is how the dish becomes imbued with all those flavours and aromas that distinguish a simple bread soup from a rich and satisfying ribollita. A dish rich in aromas and taste, to be paired with a full-bodied wine, intense and persistent on the nose, with good acidity and flavour on the palate. Carpineto Chianti Classico is just right for you: a wine with clear, vinous aromas, ranging from violet to viola odorata and fresh red fruit. With its velvety flavour and smooth tannin, it pairs admirably with your spoonful of ribollita.

Carabaccia and Carpineto Dogajolo Bianco

Let us move on to the province of Florence, to the enchanting village of Certaldo. In addition to being the birthplace of Giovanni Boccaccio, this splendid town is known for being the home of the famous red onion. From which, among all the tasty recipes, you can try your hand at the famous local onion soup, otherwise known as Carabaccia. Nothing could be simpler: Certaldo onions, potatoes, vegetable broth, bread for soaking and a touch of pecorino cheese (possibly from Pienza!) to give flavour and aroma. A soup that enhances the sweet touch of the onion, balanced by the savouriness of the pecorino and the starches of the bread. The right pairing? You can indulge in experimentation.

Here we suggest a full-bodied white wine with good acidity, appropriately fruity and balanced by an elegant touch of savouriness that will go well with the sweet touch of the onion. Here is the identikit of Carpineto Dogajolo Bianco: a wine made from Chardonnay, Grechetto and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, among the most innovative produced in our cellars. Medium-structured, very pleasant to drink, snappy sip and a surprisingly persistent bouquet. Ideal to balance the structure of our Carabaccia from Certaldo.

Florentine Tripe and Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva

How could another of the flagships of Tuscan cuisine in the world be missing? Among the wonderful and charming streets of Florence, one can still commonly find taverns and inns offering the famous Florentine tripe. A rich and satisfying recipe, it is made from a mirepoix of celery, carrot and onion, and browned in a pan with either oil or butter. To this base is added the tripe cut into strips, blended with a little white wine and flavoured with bay leaves and a clove of garlic. It is at this point that peeled tomatoes are added, to confer sweetness, structure and harmony to our tripe. Finally: an unfailing sprinkling of cheese, usually Parmigiano Reggiano.

This is a poor traditional Tuscan dish that is to be counterbalanced by a decidedly rich and full-bodied flavour. For this reason, as pairing we need an equally full-bodied and structured wine that does not, however, overwhelm the delicate harmony of the recipe. What would suit us? A Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva. From Sangiovese and Canaiolo vines, matured in oak barrels of different capacities and origins for over 12 months, our Chianti Classico Riserva is a full-bodied, harmonious, elegant wine, with marked persistence both on the nose and palate. A full, satisfying sip, with very smooth tannins, that returns sensations of warmth and elegance as the wine opens in the glass.
The perfect travelling companion for our Florentine tripe.