Simple Cooking - Red Wine Pasta

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 21, 2008 6:00PM

We might eat much more pasta than the average person. While we have a lot of great recipes in our arsenal, most of them follow the same basic pattern: make tasty sauce, boil pasta, put tab A in slot B and serve. This pasta recipe takes on a slightly different pattern, as the pasta finishes boiling in the wine sauce. This turns the pasta a deep burgundy and gives it a rich, slightly bitter flavor, complimented by the slight spice of the pepper.

Red Wine Pasta
(inspired by Mark Bittman)

1 lb. Spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bottle of red wine
1 large shallot, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Pinch of cayenne pepper
8-10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped.
2 Tbsp butter

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Let it come to a boil, then in a large high-sided pan, sauté the shallot, garlic and cayenne in the olive oil on high heat for about 1 minute. Add the pasta to the pot of water, setting a timer for about _ the recommended cooking time found on the box of pasta. Add the red wine and basil to your saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly, keeping the sauce simmering.

We keep an old juice jug in the back of our refrigerator, and every time we fail to finish a bottle of red wine, we put the last cup or so into it. Once the jug is full, we know it’s time to make this pasta. Don’t waste decent (or even unopened wine) on this dish.

Once the timer goes off, drain the pasta and add it to your saucepan. Set the timer for the remainder of the cooking time for the pasta. As the pasta cooks, the wine should reduce down into a thick sauce. When the pasta is finished, add the butter to glaze. Take it out of the pan and serve.