I’d seen pictures of this before, but spaghetti cooked in red wine looks amazing and alien all at the same time. It takes on a rich hue from the wine, as well as wine’s innate characteristics — and even an ever-so-slight kick from the alcohol. I’d never tried it in our little kitchen, but it looked pretty bad-ass. Most of the recipes I had researched involved crushed red pepper flakes and broccoli, which I promptly ignored, and made my own version.
Because…I am a renegade. But not quite like this guy:
Lorenzo Lamas...the Renegade.
Ingredients are as follows:
- Spaghetti (thin or thick, whichever is fine, though I did read people like the thick stuff better)
- Red wine (anything cheap is fine)
- Anchovies
- Garlic, finely minced
- Basil
- Parmigiano-Reggiano (aka whatever parmesan you have/like, except for that shit in the green can, shudder)
- Goat cheese
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly-ground black pepper
Bring the red wine to a boil in one pot, one or two bottles, depending on how much spaghetti you’re making. As to that ever-popular notion that you should only cook with a wine you’ll drink, well, I call total bullshit on that one. Buy some cheap bottles. Maybe not $1 bottles, but $5 bottles that aren’t THAT bad, you should use. Boiling drinkable wine is just a total waste.
If you’re rich, use Château de Ballsacks from 1942 and also I hate you because you’re rich and I’m a poor Sales Operations Manager that hates his life. How’s that, you rich, elegant, dickface?
Ahem. Boil the wine. Then in a saute pan, toss some roughly chopped anchovies in — they’ll melt down as you cook them. The fishy taste will give way to a richer, savory, and salty flavor as it cooks. Then throw some minced garlic in there and let that cook for a little while.
Cook the spaghetti to the instructions on the box, in the wine. When the spaghetti has finished cooking, toss it in the saute pan with the anchovies, oil, and garlic. Throw in a bunch of parmesan, chopped basil, ground black pepper, toss a little further, then plate. Add a little bit of goat cheese (not too much) on top to help cut the flavor of the wine, and you have a beautiful steaming plate of the craziest looking pasta you’ve ever seen.
Or you have this.
My lousy photo. Someday, when I grow up, I'll be able to afford a real camera, which means...never.