Sunday Supper: Food and Wine Pairing of the Week

Sausage and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta with Chianti

Doesn’t it just seem like days off are actually busier than the days when you are working?

We have no idea where the time goes, but after a quick run to the gym, a few household chores and minor check-ins with email, it somehow has managed to be 4pm.

Combine the quickly evaporating day with a fridge full of left overs, and we’ve got the inspiration for today’s Sunday Supper.

With a left over sausage, sun dried tomato, and mushroom mixture from Christmas morning needing to be used up, and a few boxes of pasta taking up space in the cupboard, a Sunday evening pasta bake ticks all the boxes: a home for left overs, remaining ingredients pantry staples (no grocery run), easy to make (as always), and delicious.

The best part about pasta bakes, in addition to the comfort and joy they bring on lazy winter days, is really, no recipe is required. Increase the veggies, swap pork for turkey, switch out the mozz for another cheese and play with spices. What you create is up to you, and with this recipe as a guideline, it’s virtually no-fail.

Sausage and Sun Dried Tomato Baked Pasta

Serves 8

What You Need:

• 1 box of your preferred pasta (we like penne)
• 1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage (we did half mild and half spicy)
• olive oil
• 1/2 c. chopped shallots
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 c dry red wine
• 2-3 handfuls baby spinach
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 2-3 large, dried bay leaves
• 4 cups tomato puree
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups grated mozzarella
• 1 Tbsp hot peppers in oil (optional)
• 1/2 cup sliced sundried tomatoes, packed in oil

How You Do It:

1. In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat
2. Add shallots and garlic, sautéing until soft, about 2 minutes
3. Add sun dried tomatoes and hot peppers, if using, stir to combine
4. Remove sausage from the casing, and crumble it into the shallot mixture, breaking up big pieces with a fork
5. Deglaze with red wine and cook until nearly all the wine is absorbed, 3-5 minutes
6. Add in spinach to wilt
7. Add in tomato puree, dried basil, cracked pepper, bay leaves and salt
8. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly
9. Meanwhile, pre heat oven to 375
10. Boil a pot of salted water cooking pasta until fairly al dente (about 3-4 minutes less than the instructions advise)
11. Drain pasta and add to sauce, stirring to combine
12. Grease a 9×13 lasagna pan and pour pasta mixture into it, removing bay leaves
13. Spread mozzarella evenly over the top of the pasta, cover with foil (you may want to put a sheet of parchment between the cheese and foil to prevent sticking) and place in oven to bake for 30 minutes until cheese is bubbly

The Wine Sisters’ Wine Pairing

Frescobaldi “Nippozano” Chainti Ruffina Riserva, Tuscany, Italy, 2010
$21.90 LCBO 107276
One of our go-to bottles, Nippozano is consistent, decently priced and full of Old World deliciousness with great food flexibility. Medium bodied, with dusty-dry tannins and pomegranate-tart acidity, flavours of earthy herbs, black berry and leather-smoke notes offer classic Chianti sipping.

How Did the Pairing Work?

While not necessarily a wine we’d turn to for solo sipping, this Chianti does well with stewed meats and tomato-based sauces, as the tart cran-cherry/pomegranate note is calmed by the food, while a robust dark cherry and smoky flavour is favourably highlighted. Previously dusty tannins are plumped up by rich meats. A great example of why Chianti and tomato-based, meat and pasta dishes are a classic match.