This little guy doesn’t have a guilty bone in his body.  Neither should you.  Every Wednesday I will write-up a wine that I feel delivers good value for drinking in the middle of the week.  Aside from quality, my only other criteria is price.  To start, less than $15, but ideally less than $10, for a 750 ml bottle. 

I will also add any recipes that I paired with the wine.  I hope that I will be successful with all of my pairings, but there are never guarantees and I will report on my duds as well.  My ultimate goal for each of these dinners is to end up with the same self-satisfied jaunty grin that my little friend to the left has.  I also hope to leave you with a recipe that you can use to match up with a wine of your choice if you can’t locate the one I recommend.

No-Guilt Wednesday is not about compromising on quality.  It’s about all about drinking good wine that does not break the bank.  And of course, it’s about sharing with the ones you love.

Aia Vecchia Lagone 2007 ($14): This Tuscan blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc is a “go-to” wine for me when I’m looking for something that I know will be Italian food friendly.  Got some prosciutto-pasta-tomato-sauce-parmesan-pancetta-risotto-thing going on?  This is your vino.  Did someone say pizza?  Yeah that too.  My purist Italian friends (that’s you marclifestyle) might scoff at all these French varietals in an Italian wine.  But that scoffing would be undeserved.  And you may scoff when we consider that at $14, this is at the upper end of the price that guarantees me no guilt.  But it’s my party, so deal.  OK, so what’s in the bottle?  Medium to full-bodied, with a nose of underbrush, herbs and florals leading to a palate of black plums and finishing with soft tannins.  Ms. R and I were sad to see the bottom of the decanter.  Rated **1/2

And what did we eat with this?  Did someone say red wine with fish?  “You Betcha!”  We’re talking Smoked Trout Orecchiette.  Seriously, it was a very decent match.  The Lagone cut through the salty, oily fish.  Now sometimes red wine brings out an unpleasant fishiness in seafood.  Not this time– the sweetness of the peas and onion balance the salty-smokey trout.  The red wine sings in concert with this dish.  Trust us on this one. 

Smoked Trout Orecchiette

Ingredients

• 1 lb. of Orecchiette (ear shaped pasta)
• 1/3 cup of EVOO
• 2 garlic medium-sized cloves very thinly sliced
• 1 white onion diced
• 1/2 cup of frozen petite peas
• 2 tbsps of nonpareille capers
• 1/2 lb. of smoked trout cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup if chopped fresh parsley
• Juice of 1/4 lemon

1. Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add enough 1/4 cup of salt so that water is salty to the taste
2. Boil orecchiette in salted water until cooked al dente
3. While pasta is cooking, warm up EVOO in a large pan and add garlic and saute over medium heat for 30 seconds until oil become fragrant (do not burn the garlic)
4. Add white onion, petite peas, capers and smoked trout.  Cook until onions are soft– about 3-5 minutes
5. Stir in chopped parsley and add additional EVOO if needed
6. Stir in lemon juice.  At this time taste the sauce to make sure that it is salted to taste.  The smoked fish is salty and so additional salt may not be needed.
7. Once pasta is finished cooking, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid and drain the pasta
8. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and add the pasta cooking liquid to the pan if needed.  Stir the pasta in the sauce until coated.  If the pan is too dry add small amounts of the pasta liquid to ensure that the orecchiette has a sauce
9. Plate and sprinkle with Parmesano Reggiano

Serves 4

Sybarite Sauvage ©