Medlock Ames Ribollita

The RED blend is our daily wine – and hopefully yours too. It is wine that we hope will be enjoyed in all manner of situations, for whatever reasons you choose, whenever you feel like it. In keeping with those sentiments, we’ve paired it with the simple and seasonally appropriate Ribollita – whose ingredients you can find almost anywhere at this time of the year. This classic Tuscan soup can incorporate whatever vegetables you like and improves (like most soups) with a day or so of age.

• Heavy splashes of olive oil (we used our own)
• Onion (yellow and pungent) chopped roughly
• Several good sized cloves of garlic – smashed
• 3 celery stalks – chopped to an inch or so
• 3 ‘average’ carrots – chopped smaller than the celery
• 1 ½ quarts chicken stock (home made is unbeatable)
• 15 oz cannellini beans (canned can work well)
• 4 -5 whole canned San Marzano tomatoes
• A good sized handful of chopped swiss chard or kale
• 2 big handfuls of rustic old bread torn into pieces
• Salt and pepper (fresh ground)
• A few fingers each of chopped fresh basil and cilantro
• Block of Parmigiano Reggiano

Start by heating a good glug of oil in a large heavy pot over a medium heat. Add the onion and then the garlic (feel free to add more garlic if the notion grabs you) and cook them gently until they become soft. Next, add the carrots and cook off for a few minutes before bringing the celery to the mix. Stir often as they cook to make sure that everything combines nicely. After 5 minutes or so, add the chicken stock (or vegetable if you prefer) and deglaze any tasty residue from the vegetables and bringing to the boil before adding the cannellini beans. Once beans are in, cover and reduce the heat and then let it simmer for 15 minutes or so. Next, add the tomatoes and the chard or kale (minus any thick stalks) and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.

While the soup gently cooks through and those flavors meld together, heat the oven to 350ºF. Douse the old bread (has to be dry and rustic) with a hearty drizzle of olive oil (make that several drizzles) and good amounts of salt and pepper. Then, toast until the bread takes on color.

Just prior to serving, add the basil and cilantro (as much as you like) and check soup for seasoning. Serve the soup and bread together in bowls – some prefer the bread atop the soup, others the soup atop the bread – but almost everyone will appreciate a delicious shaving or three of Parmigiano to finish the dish.

Enjoy with friends and the 2005 RED.