Red Wine Pasta

It seems this is a pretty big thing.  My good wife and son were talking about it this past weekend because his beloved had liked a recipe.  I had missed that somehow and got them to tell me about it.  After that it was up to Google and I found lots of recipes.  I also got our son to send me the link to the recipe his beloved had found.  In the end, I combined bits of other recipes and added my own twist to come up with a great supper.


Most of the recipes I found involve nothing more than the pasta, typically spaghetti, along with red wine, shallots, and garlic.  They also tended to be intended for side dishes.  I came across a couple that added nuts and/or Feta cheese or goat cheese.  I found one where they added pancetta to the mix.  The one with pancetta said it could be eaten by itself or used as a side dish.


If I was going to have the big pot for the pasta and the big skillet on the stove I didn't want to have to make something else to go along with the pasta.  So what does Uncle T do, he adds more stuff.  For my version you include pancetta, mushrooms, and asparagus.

A skillet full of goodness

A couple of things to note, you can use either a box of pasta or a recipe of fresh pasta for this.  I used fresh fettuccini using the recipe in this post, Pasta Recipe.  The second thing, use a wine you'd like to drink.  After all, you'll have some left over and there is no need to let it go to waste.  Most of the recipes I found called for a Zinfandel or a Cabernet Sauvignon.  I used an Australian Merlot.


So without further ado, here it is.


Red Wine Pasta


1 lb spaghetti or fettuccini, boxed or fresh
4 oz thick cut pancetta, diced
1 shallot, minced
4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 lb asparagus, cut in bite size pieces
1 bottle red wine
2 Tbs butter
olive oil
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning


Heat skillet over medium/medium high heat and add diced pancetta.  Cook until slightly crispy and remove from skillet.   Put the shallot and garlic in the skillet with the grease rendered from the pancetta.  Cook until the shallot is translucent then add the asparagus.  Stir the asparagus and cook until slightly under done and remove from skillet.  If there is not enough of the pancetta grease left add a bit of olive oil and dump in the mushrooms.  Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste.  Cook the mushrooms till they are lightly brown on the bottom then turn and brown the other side.  Add the pancetta and asparagus with the shallot and garlic back to the skillet.  Pour in 1/3 of the bottle of wine.  Bring to a simmer.  Time cooking your pasta so it is almost done at the same time you add the wine to the skillet.  When the wine is at a simmer, remove the pasta from the pot and put into the skillet.  Once all the pasta is in the skillet start turning it to get it all in the wine.  Add the butter to help thicken the sauce.  Once the wine has been cooked into the pasta and the pasta is al dente it is done.  Plate and top with cheese.  Eat and enjoy.

Red Wine Pasta plated up and ready for cheese

This would go well with some good Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese.  I didn't have any of those on hand so I used a blend that contains Parmesan, Asiago,

Red Wine Pasta with cheese

This dish or a variant of it will definitely become part of the rotation.  It is too quick and tasty for it to not be.  If you can't find thick pancetta you could dice some slab bacon and come close to the same effect.  If you are in the mood for pasta with a twist give this a try.  If you do, let me know what you think.


Uncle T