Here's a good reason to open a bottle of red wine - Drunken Pasta. After slightly cooking your pasta in water, you finish cooking it in red wine. It comes out a nice red color and very flavorful. The recipe is easy and doesn't require a long list of ingredients. This is definitely a great little pantry dish.
What kind of red wine to use? Something dry, fruity and good enough to drink - a Chianti or a Zinfandel works great.
Although this is called "Drunken Pasta", you won't get drunk eating it - the alcohol basically cooks off!
Drunken Pasta
serves 4
for a printable recipe, click here
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove, cut into 3 pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon red hot chili pepper
- 1-1/2 cups red wine
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 tablesoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions:
Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil.
In a large skillet, heat oil, garlic and chili pepper on low heat. Gently cook about 5 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Remove the garlic and add the red wine. Increase the heat to medium.
Add pasta to boiling water and cook for only about 3 minutes. Drain well and add to the skillet, tossing in the wine with tongs until wine is absorbed and pasta is cooked, about 2 more minutes. Test pasta for doneness. Taste for salt and add what you feel it needs. Toss with the cheese and parsley and serve.
A couple of more great pantry pasta dishes:
No-Cook Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce:
