When making this home-made tomato sauce below, I took a few Italian traditions, tips I've learned from another chef, and a bit of my own flare into account. I am a huge Giada de Laurentiis fan and have watched her show for years on the food network as the Italian queen. Her tips for a traditional tomato based sauce are to include the trio of carrot, garlic, and onion. The sauté of these three items provides an aroma that will lure anyone into the kitchen, desperate to eat whatever you're concocting. The carrots may seem like a surprising ingredient; however, they add a nice texture and earthy quality to the sauce. I have made plenty of sauces starting in this way that are great but still seem to be missing something. This time I added diced red pepper into the initial trio. This vegetable will help add a sweet and spicy touch. Goat cheese is another interesting ingredient added to this dish. One of my friends that is a chef once created a delightful shrimp appetizer with a roasted red pepper sauce and goat cheese on top. In the photo above, you'll notice I sprinkled goat cheese on the shrimp. The creamy cheese truly does balance the salty shrimp and acidity from the tomato sauce. See recipe below wine recommendations.
For a wine pairing, I think French rosé would be perfect. Unfortunately, many consumers see this blush colored wine in a store and associate it with White Zinfandel. White Zinfandel is a sweet wine, generally produced by California winemakers that have excess Zinfandel juice and ferment it into an inexpensive wine. This wine was actually produced as an accident. Producers originally planned on releasing some of the juice out of the grapes to produce a more intense and richly flavored Zinfandel that had more impact from contact with the skins. They realized they could make money from this slightly fermented sweet juice, and so began an American craze that now accounts for 10% of the wine market. Needless to say, I am not impressed with this style. French rosé on the other hand is dry and made from red grapes in a very delicate process. The grapes are held in contact with the skins for a specific amount of time to give the blush color and release flavor. The grapes are then fermented the same way as a white wine. I highly recommend a wine from Cótes de Provence. This style of wine is typically paired with foods of a Mediterranean flare... tomato based and with seafood. If you do not prefer this style of wine, a Chianti Classico would be a great accompaniment as well.
Shrimp & Pasta
For the Tomato Sauce
- Olive oil for coating pan
- 1/2 large white onion diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red pepper diced
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 20 oz can crushed tomato
- Crushed red pepper (optional)
- 1/2 tsp crushed rosemary
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
Sauté the first 4 ingredients over medium low heat for about 20-30 minutes and add the thyme sprigs. Add the sugar and cook for about two minutes before adding the wine. Turn the heat up for a few minutes until wine is soaked up into the sauté. Discard the thyme sprigs. Add the crushed tomato and the rest of the herbs and spices. In the last few minutes add the parmesan. Let sauce sit as long as you can over low heat for flavors to release.
For the Shrimp
- 1 lb of raw shrimp
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Marinade the shrimp and cook in pan or over grill until pink.
For the Pasta
- Box of Spaghetti cooked al dente
- Tomato sauce above
- Shrimp above
- Desired vegetable (ex: cooked sliced zucchini)
- Crumbled goat cheese
See picture above on how I plated this dish. Bon Apetit!
No comments:
Post a Comment