Glass Of Wine, Bowl Full Of Penne Pasta And Some Soulful Music- Perfect!
By: Ayushi Sharma
Tags: Food, Wine

Everyone has their own ways of enjoying Red wine. For some people red wine and cheesy chips are a guilty pleasure, some like to have it with Plum cake but Red wine with white sauce pasta is like a guilty pleasure. And to top it all, I like to add some slow and soothing music, like violin music after all I am a music lover, therefore can’t help it.

RED WINE WITH WHITE SAUCE PASTA

That creamy texture when melts in your mouth, you feel as if you have reached the stage of self-realization. And after that when you take a sip of Red wine, oh my my, it’s difficult to express its taste in words. To enjoy this pairing it’s really important to have a relaxed mood.

There are various ways of cooking white sauce pasta but the one which I trust is white sauce pasta with an Indian twist, after all, I am an Indian.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked Pasta or Fusilli

2 cups Milk

2 tbsp Plain Flour(maida)

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp Finely Chopped Garlic

1/4 cup Yellow Capsicum Strips

1/4 cup Green Capsicum Strips

1/4 cups Red Capsicum Stripes

1/4 cup diagonally cut and blanched Baby Corn

1 tsp dry Red Chilli Flakes

1–1/2 tsp dried Mixed Herbs

1/4 cup Grated Processed Cheese.

PREPARATION

1.Start with combining the milk, plain flour and salt in a deep container. Whisk well so that no lumps remain and then keep it asides.

2. Next step is heating butter in a broad non-stick pan, adding garlic to it and saute on a medium flame for a few seconds.

3. Then add yellow, green and red capsicum and saute on a medium flame for about 2 minutes. Add baby corn and again saute on a medium flame for 1 more minute.

4. Add the milk-plain flour mixture, chili flakes, mixed herbs, cheese and a little salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for another 2 minutes. Keep stirring continuously.

5. Once you are done with all the above processes, it’s time to add Pasta into it and mix well. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes on medium flame, while tossing gently.

6. Start serving it with garlic bread and red wine immediately.

OCCASION

Well, one of my favorite occasions to enjoy this delicious food pairing is on CHRISTMAS, especially when you have no one around you. To complement this pairing wear comfortable trousers or if you wish to celebrate in underwear try cotton or jersey men’s boxer briefs. Binge-watch your favorite movie, light aromatic candles, and just go ahead with it.

Besides this, there is another one Food pairing which I love to have, Paneer( cottage cheese) tikka with Sauvingnon Blanc.

PANEER TIKKA PAIRED WITH SAUVIGNON BLANC

This is my favorite pairing after red wine and white sauce pasta. Paneer tikka is one of the most delicious and common appetizers which almost all Indians like to eat. If you haven’t tried marinated cottage cheese enriched with Indian spices, dried coriander powder which is further grilled in an Indian oven, you are missing something interesting in life! Trust me.

INGREDIENTS

Cut the cottage cheese into cubes and marinate them. For marination you require:

1. Yogurt ( non-flavoured)

2.Indian spices like coriander powder, red chill powder, chaat masala

3. Mustard oil for enhancing its flavor. 2 tbsp would work.

4. Cilantro and mint for freshness and taste

5. Lemon juice for tanginess

PREPARATION

1. Begin with whisking yogurt in a large bowl until it becomes a smooth paste. Either you can go for greek yogurt or a regular one, make sure to strain it for several hours so that you have thick yogurt left and then add in the recipe.

2- Next step is marination. To begin with, add all the ingredients to the yogurt- ginger garlic paste, mustard oil, coriander powder, chaat masala, Kashmiri red chili powder, garam masala, red chili powder, Kasuri methi and salt. Combine them all together with the help of hands. This way each ingredient will get mixed properly and will give a rich taste to paneer tikka. Sometimes, it’s alright to do a dirty job.

4-In chopped Cilantro and mint, add in the juice of 1 lemon. Then you need to add cottage cubes, onion and bell peppers to the paste in such a manner that all the cubes and veggies get well coated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 4 hours.

5. Now take the skewer and arrange paneer (cottage cheese), onion and peppers on it in an alternate manner with each other. Meanwhile pre-heat oven at 450 F degrees for a good 15–20 minutes.

6.After you are done with all the preparations it’s time to arrange all the skewers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then spray or apply some oil on tikka. Oil is applied so that veggies won’t dry out.

7.You need to bake at 450 F degrees for 10 minutes and then turn on the broil. Broiling should be done for 2 to 3 minutes until paneer pieces look a little charred.

8.So now, when your tikkas are ready, remove them from the oven, squeeze lemon juice (if you want) and sprinkle chaat masala. Enjoy this appetizer with your favorite Sauvignon. Don’t overcook the cottage cheese as pieces would become tough and chewy.

ARE YOU READY TO GRAB THEM?

OCCASION

You can enjoy this food pairing when you are with your friends, family members or when you want to boost your mood a little bit.

Well, these are my favorite food pairing and if you like them, do give them a shot.