I am often asked at wine tastings, “What would this wine go well with?” For the sake of simplicity, I often stick to simple pairings with which most people will be familiar. “This Chianti goes great with a bolognese sauce.” “This Tocai Friulano is an excellent seafood wine.”

Most people are familiar with the basic rules of wine pairing such as, “Don’t serve a big oaky Cabernet Sauvignon with delicate seafood.” But taking it to the next level where your wine actually enhances your meal (and vice versa) takes much more thought and practice. This is especially true when it comes to Italian cooking as there is rarely a meal that isn’t accompanied by a bottle at the table.

The advantage that I have is that I am always surrounded by many different types of wine. Therefore, the question of, “What wine should I pick to go with my food?” is just as frequently, “What food should I cook to go with my wine?” In this blog we’re going to play with this idea of starting with a wine you like or have on hand and finding a simple meal that can be made from scratch to complement it.

Let’s begin with an Italian staple: Chianti served with pasta and tomato sauce. This is a meal that is probably being eaten by thousands of families in Italy right now. It’s a classic because it’s simple, quick, and delicious.

The wine we are starting with is Poggio Alloro’s 2012 Chianti. It’s made with a blend of four grapes: Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, and Colorino. As a wine that is only aged in steel tanks and in the bottle it does not have the same weight and intensity as an oak-aged Chianti and therefore is a great match for a lighter dish.

And now we need some food to go along with our wine. So set aside an hour or so, fill your glass, and start cooking!

Poggio Alloro Chianti with Boscaiola Sauce over Homemade Fettucini

Boscaiola Sauce





(This recipe makes enough for 2 batches of this pasta or the equivalent of 1.5 pounds of dry pasta.)

1/2 cup red onion, diced

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups fresh white mushrooms, cut into small peices

10 ounces ground pork sausage

3 cups tomato puree

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or to taste)

3 pinches of salt

Grated Parmesan cheese

Preparing the Sauce

1) Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Once hot, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until onions are becoming translucent.

2) Add the mushrooms and cook an additional 10 minutes.

3) Add the sausage to the pan, using your hands to break the meat into smaller chunks. Continue to break the sausage up with a spoon as it cooks for 10-15 minutes or until the sausage is cooked.

4) Add the tomato puree, warm water, red pepper flakes, and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat.

At this time you can make your pasta. Once you get comfortable with this process you can easily prepare your pasta in the time it takes your sauce to simmer.

Homemade Fettucini

(For two people)

2 cups all-purpose white flour

2 large eggs at room temperature

room temperature water

Making the Pasta

1) Measure flour into a mixing bowl and create a hole in the center of the pile. Crack the eggs directly into the hole.

2) Using your hands or a fork, break the yolks and mix the eggs together. Begin to gradually stir the flour into the eggs until the dough is dry and clumpy. Add small amounts of water at a time and use your hands to get the remaining flour combined into the dough ball. Note: The amount of water you use will vary from batch to batch depending on how large the eggs are.

3) Once all of the flour and egg is combined, spread a small amount of flour onto a counter (just enough to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.) Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it becomes smooth.

4) Rub a small amount of olive oil on the outside of the dough ball and place in a covered bowl to rest for at least 10 minutes. At this point, set a pot of water on the stove to boil. As this pasta recipe uses no salt I recommend salting the water heavily.

5) Once the dough is done resting, it’s ready to roll out! How many times you choose to roll it through the pasta maker can depend on the texture of your dough and the type of pasta you are making. In this case my dough was a little on the dry side so I folded and rolled the dough a few times on the “0” (largest) setting to get it smoother.

6) Roll the dough to your desired thickness (I used the “5” setting) and then pass it through the pasta cutter. Sprinkle or rub a bit of flour on the finished pasta before laying it on a cookie sheet or hanging it if you have a pasta rack.

7) Boil the pasta to al dente (fresh pasta will only have to cook for 2-3 minutes). Serve hot with the boscaiola sauce and plenty of grated Parmesan.

Although this recipe does use sausage it’s a relatively light sauce that gets most of its flavor from the tomatoes and mushrooms. The lighter body of the wine complements the acidity of the tomatoes and the traditional rustic and earthy flavors found in most Chiantis pairs perfectly with mushrooms. Finally, the bit of zing that the sausage and crushed red pepper bring to the dish adds to the subtle spice flavors from the Sangiovese tannins.

Buon Appetito! Let us know if you enjoyed the recipe or if you have any comments.

This recipe can be found on p.188 of Sarah Fioroni’s book, A Family Farm in Tuscany (2012).

Poggio Alloro’s Website

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