Warm Fingerling & Lentil Salad with Ontario Pinot Noir

The other day a friend remarked how winter must have got a new marketing team. What once was simply standard Canadian weather – frigid, icy, snowy and blowy – is now christened ominous names like Polar Vortex ands Siberian Express. Sure it is darn cold: an uncomfortable, pain in the arse, hurting kind of cold that we won’t be sad to see blow out of town, but it is still a Canadian winter, and we’re sure we can remember living through similar winters in past years.

However, this particular winter seems to be dragging on. Still only January, and we’ve just about had our fill (for the time being), of hearty, warming, stews and braises for a stick-to-your-ribs goodness that comforts you in the frozen twilight of 5pm. So last night, looking for something filling, but not quite as dense as some of the delicious winter dishes we’ve been feasting on as of late, we opted for a warm potato and lentil salad.

Using this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and following almost to a T, which is something we rarely do, the salad was substantial and filling, but not so heavy that we laid comatose after dinner.

The salad, which is mainly comprised of potatoes (we used fingerlings, but any potato would do) and lentils, is dressed in a shallot vinaigrette, with capers and cornichon, making it somewhat reminiscent of Salad Niçoise. The recipe calls for green lentils, but we swapped in Beluga, and added some blanched green beans for a bit of brightness and crunch.

We subbed white wine vinegar for red, and doubled the amount; lessened the olive oil and probably quadrupled the cornichon, as being good German girls, pickles are kindof our thing.

The salad turned out to be spectacular. We slightly undercooked the lentils and potatoes to keep both firm for the salad and dressing. Smitten Kitchen suggests topping it with a soft cooked egg if you want to boost the protein levels, but we found it filling as is and ate it on its own. It could be a nice side to roast poultry or pork loin – or even keep with the Niçoise theme and add rare seared tuna. But we loved the blend of earthy, salty and sour, and the fact that this can be a healthy vegetarian entree is a pretty good bonus in the midst of a heavy, meat laden winter. De-lish.

It was something like -22 outside, so a run to the LCBO to get a wine to pair with the salad was out of the question. Erin dug around in her wine fridge, and found Five Rows Pinot Noir from 2007, which we thought would pair reasonably well.

We say reasonably, as the earthy lentils and potatoes are an easy enough match to the earthy Pinot, but we were slightly worried about the acidity and sharpness from the shallot vinaigrette, cornichon and capers. But because the dominant flavours come from the lentils and potatoes, plus a little kick from the freshly ground black pepper, it turned out to be a decent pairing. Not out-of-this-world spectacular, but better than OK. Next time – and this recipe was so good it warrants lots of next times – we will try a white Côtes du Rhône,  Sémillon, or a dry rosé.

Five Rows Pinot Noir, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara 2007

(2010 currently available, $50)
2007 was quite a hot year in Niagara, with winemaker Wes Lowry optimistic abut cellaring potential. An equal blend of fruit that comes from 10, 15 and 20 year old vines, this Pinot is holding up really well, with aromas of violet incense, clove and toasted cumin spice, fresh raspberry and bright red cherry. The palate shows incredible depth and much more power than expected. Tannins are firm, but well integrated, with balanced, bright acid. Flavours of sweet red berries, subtle bergamot tea, spice and a bitter cranberry finish, with impressive length.