Pairings

And Classico, and Primitivo
"Gastronom" №4 (51) April 2006

What to serve with Italian pasta?

Naturally, a bottle of Chianti! — An accepted stereotype, but not always true. It’s a matter of pride for each region to offer local wines with local food.

The simplest pasta recipes include only several basic ingredients. Along with pasta, they are olive oil, garlic and a handful of pine nuts. Such dishes are best matched by light, aromatic white wines which mainly originate from the north-eastern parts of the country. Pay a close look to a well known Italian Pinot Grigio — with refreshing citrus flavours and appealing spicy notes. Pinot Grigio wines can accompany pasta with green vegetables and herbs — from uncomplicated spaghetti with parsley and walnuts to refined penne with artichokes.

White wines are unquestionably the best pairing for cold pasta salads. With olive oil, zucchinis, broccoli or green peas, the salads benefit from the presence of Soave, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco. Sauvignon Blanc produced in the north-east of Italy.

These wines are an excellent accompaniment for seafood dishes — both cold and hot. In Lombardy, in the central part of Northern Italy, they are likely to offer dry sparkling Franciacorta made by traditional champagne method with pasta and seafood. An interesting example of such combination is pantacce (thin cylindrical penne-like pasta) with scallops, prawns and zucchini served alongside Franciacorta extra brut.

If we move to the west in Piedmont, the homeland of classic thin wide egg noodle pasta, here we will find white Gavi with the notes of citruses and minerals as a base of enogastrnomic pairings. It is especially good with tagliatelle and melted butter with sage. In autumn a few shavings of fresh white truffles are added thanks to which tagliatelle acquires an unmatched mushroom taste. In this case a more appropriate wine partner is Barolo, a famous red wine of Piedmont, with powerful masculine character.

Italian ravioli, another variety of pasta, are served with a vast array of wines. Everything depends on filling. For vegetable filling white wines are chosen, for cheese and meat — intense whites, such as Soave, Arneis, Tokay Pinot Gris or light red — Dolcetto and Valpolicella. But there are no strict rules. In Emilia-Romagna ralioli with spinach are offered with red fizzy Lambrusco, and agnolotti with veal and sage in Piedmont — with white Gavi.

Pasta with tomatoes should be discussed separately, for instance farfalle (bowties) with tomatoes, basil and garlic sauce, orecchiette (ears) with tomatoes and olive oil or spaghetti neapolitana with tomato sauce, oregano and parsley. They pair with red wines, but not too heavy, to highlight rich, sweet sauce flavours. Barbera, Chianti and Merlot will do.

Meat, bacon and sausage is often added to pasta and tomatoes. Each Italian region boasts own specialties. In Emilia-Romagna it is spaghetti Bolognese with mince meat, in Lazio — bucatini (thick spaghetti) amatriciana with two types of bacon, in Abruzzi — spaghetti alla chitarra with tiny meatballs. In general they are served with the same wines like for meatless pasta with tomato sauce, but they should be more powerful and intense. One can experiment with generous red wines from the south of Italy — Negroamaro and Primitivo. Some find them rustic and they are quite appealing and wonderfully match rich dishes with tomatoes and meat.

If pasta is cooked with cheese, the choice of wine is dictated by the qualities of cheese. Ravioli with soft ricotta are served with full white Soave or light red Dolcetto and Valpolicella. Sauces based on hard, spicy and blue cheeses, such as parmigiano or gorgonzola, demand powerful, concentrated red wines — Barolo and Barbaresco from Piedmont, Amarone from Veneto, supertuscan Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah-based blends, Sicilian Nero d’Avola. These wines will be a great accompaniment to pasta al forno — the one that was baked or grilled. Lasagna, cannelloni and pasticcio will seem less heavy if they are accompanied by a good Chianti Classico with high acidity.

Finally, pasta can be a desert like ravioli with pumpkin and Amaretto biscuits in Emilia-Romagna. Serve sweet Tuscan Vin Santo with gentle honey flavours or almond liqueur Amaretto and enjoy your life. Dolce vita…