Pairing Wine With Simple Italian Food

By Nikki Berglund
Contributing Writer

A few months ago, my husband Paul, who wakes up much earlier than me on a Saturday morning, happened upon what has quickly become our new favorite cooking show, David Rocco’s Dolce Vita on The Cooking Channel.

Although David is Canadian by birth, his heart belongs to Florence, Italy, where the show is filmed. Each episode gives the audience a glimpse into the casual life of David and his wife Nina, complete with interesting characters and waaayyy over the top situations which inevitably lead to some sort of cooking opportunity. What piqued our interest was how Rocco always manages to make the recipes look effortless.

We have just barely scratched the surface of this Italian culinary goldmine, but what we have made so far has been successful every time. I am also a huge fan of Italian wine and love to serve it with Italian food whenever possible. There are a lot of great Italian wines out there that are also affordable so you can experiment without breaking the bank. Here are a few of our favorite recipes along with some wines to play around with:

Insalata Caprese

2 large tomatoes, thickly sliced
2 large balls mozzarella, thickly sliced
4 basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt to season

On a plate arrange slices of tomato and mozzarella one after the other and fan it out. Tear fresh basil over the salad, salt and drizzle with the best extra virgin olive oil available.

This is one of the easiest and yummiest salads out there and a great way to use up the tomatoes and basil from your garden.

And it seems that there have been an awful lot of sales on mozzarella lately.

I have read in a few different places that using balsamic vinegar is a no-no but we always add it to ours, so..?!

A light and crisp Italian Pinot Grigio is the perfect white wine for this salad. Kris Pinot Grigio from Friuli, Italy is a great match for right around $14.00.

You can also serve an acidic red wine such as a Sangiovese. Santa Cristina from the famous Italian wine family, Antinori can be picked up for about $14.00 as well.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
0.9 lb spaghetti
3.5oz pancetta, cubed
4 eggs
1 cup milk ½ cup freshly grated pecorino cheese
Black pepper
Salt to season

Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water. In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Add garlic, pancetta and cook for a few minutes. Remove garlic when it is golden brown and lower the heat.

In a bowl, add milk, pecorino cheese, salt, and lots of black pepper. Separate eggs, making sure not to break the yolk.

Add egg whites to milk mixture and stir for a minute or so. The heat from the spaghetti
will cook the egg and thicken the sauce. Plate and garnish each serving with an egg yolk on top. Add fresh black pepper and serve immediately.

This was the first recipe we tried. In true David Rocco style he made it look effortless and delicious, and it turned out to be both! This is kind of like breakfast pasta and although we had it for dinner, it would be an ideal dish to amaze your friends with after a long night at the bar.

We could not find pancetta (salt cured and spiced pork belly) so we used the extra thick bacon instead, fried up ahead of time. After much deliberation, we chose to forgo the raw egg yolk on top, but it did look delicious on the show.

An Italian Chianti partners nicely with this dish. These can be found in all price ranges, from the straw basket versions to the much higher priced Chianti Riservas. Davinci makes an approachable Chianti in the range of $14.00 a bottle. Another offering from the Antinori family is the Peppoli Chianti, a 90-point rated wine for about $23 a bottle.

Pasta alla Norma

1 lb penne rigate pasta
4 T extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for deep-frying eggplant
½ white onion, chopped
14 oz tin peeled plum tomatoes (translation 14oz can of whole tomatoes)
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to season
1 medium-sized eggplant, cubed
Fresh basil leaves, torn
Ricotta salata cheese

Cook the penne in a pot of boiling salted water. Stir to prevent from sticking together. While pasta
is cooking, make the sauce.

In a saucepan heat up 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Gently sauté onions until tender, then add tomatoes and liquid from can. With the back of a wooden spoon, break up the tomatoes into little chunks. Add salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.

In another pan, fry the eggplant until golden and drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Drain the pasta approximately 2 minutes before the al dente stage and add to the saucepan.

Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. Add the fried eggplant, basil leaves and sprinkle with ricotta salata. Mix together well in the saucepan so that the pasta and the sauce are well amalgamated. Be careful not to overcook the pasta. Plate, sprinkle extra ricotta salata on top and serve.

We were unable to find ricotta salata (salted sheep’s milk cheese, very different than American ricotta) so we substituted pecorino instead. Parmesan would work as well. For how few ingredients and how simple this recipe appears, the result is nothing short of fabulous!

This very traditional recipe is best served with an equally traditional red Italian wine, Nero D’avola. This grape is indigenous to Sicily and is one of Italy’s most popular varietals. I like the Feudo Arancio Nero D’avola, which is inexpensive at around $11.00 a bottle.

The best thing about David Rocco, besides the fabulously cheesy overacted skits on each episode, is the fact that with very little effort and often few ingredients you can create an amazing meal. More than once have Paul and I looked at each other with amazement at just how damn delicious our creation has turned out.

The show times and days vary but we usually find it on Saturday or Sunday morning. The website where you can find these recipes and many more is http://www.davidrocco.com. Buon appetito!

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