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 Italy's
Classic Pastas and the Wines that Make Them Sing
By Barbara & Edward Beltrami
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Like a Ferragamo shoe, Barsolino hat, Campagnola bicycle gear or
an Alessi tea kettle, there are certain Italian pasta dishes that
never go out of style, that satisfy virtually any appetite and titillate
any palate. There they are, some of them as old as the Seven Hills
of Rome, all holding unassailable reign over their more esoteric
menu-mates. They are the enduring subject of cookbooks, the inspiration
for ambitious chefs who strive mightily to reinvent them.
Ask any Italian, from the humblest homemaker to the most celebrated
chef, what the classic pastas are, and you will get a shrug, a hand
raised in a dismissive gesture or a reply that reflects a personal
favorite rather than something that is well-known, traditional or
a standard of excellence. Achieving a consensus is next to impossible.
To talk about pasta dishes is really to talk about their regions
of origin and the simple ingredients that give their sauces a unique
identity. Ultimately, the eight pasta dishes to be discussed here
all'aglio e olio (garlic and oil), alla marinara (tomatoes), alle
vongole (clams), con melanzane (eggplant), con cime di rape (broccoli
rabe), alla Genovese (pesto), alla Bolognese (meat-based ragł) and
alla carbonara (eggs, bacon and cream) fit neatly within the definition
of a classic: each is tried and true, typical to many regions, and,
in a few cases, famous. Though any number of wines could serve as
a match to these pastas, we have limited our selections to those
from Italy that use primarily local grapes. And because the pastas
themselves are from the central and southern portions of the country,
no wines from the northernmost provinces of Italy are mentioned
(with Liguria as our most northerly source). Most of the recommended
wines are made from white grapes, a point which may surprise some
readers. Frankly, because each pasta sauce is rudimentary, many
red wines, especially those that are excessively thick-textured
and highly extracted, tend to overwhelm the preparations. This excludes,
therefore, most of Italy's big-hitters, such as Brunello and Barbaresco,
which are more appropriately served with meat and cheese courses.
The only pasta dishes that we believe call for red wines are those
made with a meat-based ragł, or with an especially savory vegetable.
Among the whites, look for subtle herbal and fruit components that
are not excessively floral. Banish heavily oaked wines as garish
intruders because there should be no jarring contrasts. Finally,
the wines should assert themselves only to the extent of not detracting
from the chewiness of the pasta or the subtleties of the sauce.
We will begin with two classic sauces that are the most universal
and versatile aglio e olio and marinara. Each is elegant in its
utter simplicity, a masterpiece on its own, and an indispensable
foundation for several other sauces.
Pasta with garlic and oil (aglio e olio) has probably been around
since the first Etruscan nonna put the first bowl of it on her family's
rustic table. It is the oldest and most used sauce in all of Italy,
and the sauce from which countless herb, vegetable and seafood sauces
have evolved. The simple, no-nonsense recipe calls for only garlic,
olive oil and hot red pepper flakes. But parsley, basil, mint, rosemary,
oregano or black pepper are often added to suit personal tastes.
So elementary is this dish that it is rarely found on restaurant
menus. At home, though, we revive ourselves with it at least once
a week. We especially love to serve it when we have guests who need
to be disabused of the notion that pasta is nouvelle cuisine. As
an opening act for anything from steak to vegetables right off the
grill, or as a standard after-theater or late-night meal by itself,
this simplest of pasta dishes is simply delicious.
Aglio e olio requires a wine that is not too aggressive and is smooth-textured
enough to tame the pungency of the garlic. San Angelo, the Tuscan
Pinot Grigio from Castello Banfi ($13), is a perfect match especially
if chopped parsley is part of the preparation (and it usually is)
because the wine possesses a distinctly herbal tone. Most Pinot
Grigios from northern Italy have a slight edge to them that intrude
on the preparation, but San Angelo is definitely more rounded. A
recommended alternative that has some of San Angelo's compelling
qualities is Colomba Platino from Duca di Salaparuta ($11), which
is made mostly from Sicily's relatively unknown inzolia grape.
From the incredibly simple aglio e olio preparation comes marinara.
The single step of adding tomatoes to the basic garlic and oil recipe,
elevates this sauce to the next level. Ask most Italians and pasta
cognoscenti what they would choose to eat at their last supper,
and they'll exclaim, fingertips closed and raised to pursed lips,
eyes rolled toward heaven, "Pasta alla marinara!" And
to neither of these two sauces does any self-respecting pasta lover
ever commit the sacrilege of adding grated cheese. (Italians use
cheese with meat or cream-based sauces.)
While most Americans are predisposed to red wine with marinara,
we believe the ideal match is Vermentino, a rising star white wine
among the relatively unknown native Italian varietals. (Even celebrated
Winemaker Piero Antinori has invested substantial resources in the
production of a top-flight Vermentino.) Unlike the long-simmered,
heavy-textured sauces favored by Italian-Americans that could easily
go with a rough-textured red wine, marinara sauce in Italy is a
simple, gentle and light sauce. What we are talking about here are
the classic Italian preparations and, in this case, most red wines
are ill-suited. What Vermentino has going for it is a combination
of moderate viscosity, crispness and a mineral edge that makes it
a cross between an Oregon Pinot Gris and a Friulian Pinot Bianco.
The Ligurian Vermentino Vigna U Munte from Colle dei Bardellini
($14) is well suited to the unmasked flavors of the minimal ingredients
because of its subtle balance of tartness and unctuousness that
embraces the acid bite and oily texture of the lightly cooked tomatoes.
Other good choices among Vermentinos are the Sardinian La Cala from
Sella e Mosca ($7) and La Costa di Giulia of Michele Satta ($13)
from the Tuscan coast.
Spaghetti alla marinara is our standard fare when we've just returned
home from a trip or when we've been away from our own cooking for
a while. Like many Italians, we turn to this dependable fare as
comfort food, to soothe our stomachs and calm our digestive systems
when they've been subjected to a succession of rich foods. A plate
of baby greens, a bottle of Vermentino and some fresh fruit complete
the ritual.
From the primary oil- and tomato-based sauces, it's just a short
culinary hop to the classic clam sauce (alle vongole). For the "white"
version, just add clams and perhaps a little white wine to the garlic
and oil and call it alle vongole in bianco; for red, add clams to
the marinara and call it alle vongole in rosso. Claimed by many
seafaring regions, clam sauce is most frequently and appropriately
identified with the coastal region of Campania in southern Italy,
and it is the Neapolitans, the indisputable pasta cognoscenti, who
have perfected it. For us, pasta alle vongole is a staple that's
indelibly connected with summer evenings, when after a day at the
beach, we buy tiny mollusks or cockles for dinner. Although pasta
with clam sauce is a winner any time of year, we think of it as
a light but eminently satisfying summer meal when followed by a
small salad and perhaps a scoop of espresso granita topped with
a dollop of whipped cream. Of course, grated cheese is never used
in this or any seafood preparation, as it would interfere with the
pure and natural flavor of the seafood. Here again, a white wine
from the vermentino grape is a strong first choice because its slight
mineral tang enhances the whiff of brine in the dish. Any one of
the versatile Vermentinos mentioned earlier would do just fine.
For a white clam sauce, at least, another option would be a Fiano
di Avellino ($17). This classic from Campagna is, in the hands of
a producer like Mastroberardino, one of the most distinctive white
wines of Italy.
Next on the list is pasta con melanzane, a typical Sicilian dish
and inveterate favorite that showcases eggplant, the vegetable that
is the most ubiquitous ingredient in the island's culinary repertoire.
It's often called pasta Norma, sometimes referring to the opera
by Catanian-born Vincenzo Bellini, and at other times, as reference
to "the norm," or the everyday ingredients indigenous
to Sicily. Purists build it from the foundation of a basic tomato
sauce by incorporating exquisitely fried eggplant, while those whose
palates require a more complex dressing add peppers, anchovies and
capers.
Because of the eggplant's earthy, fleshy texture, a pairing with
red wine is not amiss. Even though the dish is Sicilian, we gravitate
toward the Primitivo di Salento allegedly a relative of zinfandel
from the producer Cantele ($10) in Apulia. The rich and slightly
exotic aromas of this wine are enhanced by a mellowness that embraces
the equally rich but creamy quality of the eggplant. A fine substitute
is the Sardinian Cannonau of Sella e Mosca ($8), a wine made mostly
from garnacha. Using pasta Norma as an example, it's not difficult
to understand that cultivating a vegetable garden in Italy on
even the tiniest postage stamp plot is much more than a leisure
pastime. Home gardens provide a spate of inexpensive and nutritious
ingredients from which to craft creative variations on the basic
bowl of pasta. For amateur and idealistic horticulturists, pasta
is the ideal vehicle for taking advantage of runaway summer vegetable
crops.
Cime di rape (pronounced RAH-pay) is another spinoff of the garlic
and oil sauce. Actually, its preparation refers to any hard flower-topped
vegetable, such as broccoli, cauliflower or rabe (technically a
type of turnip green). This dish is a specialty of many southern
Italian regions, but is most attributable to the southeastern coastal
region of Apulia, where cooking with vegetables has been elevated
to an art form. The authentic recipes for cime di rape demand that
the pasta be cooked in the water used for the vegetable (to infuse
its flavor), which is removed and set aside for a final toss with
oil and garlic. While orecchiette (meaning little ears, and referring
to the shape of the pasta) are traditionally called for, just about
any pasta seems to work well. In Sicily, cime di rape is sometimes
accented with anchovies or capers, which have a saltiness that complement
the musty taste of the cruciferous vegetables. For those who want
to pursue still other versions of this classic, add cannellini beans,
sausage or pignoli nuts along with onions, saffron and raisins.
As for the classic cime di rape, despite its winter vegetable flavor,
it is surprisingly adaptable to all seasonal appetites. We like
it best on a crisp autumn afternoon, after a pilgrimage to a local
farm stand laden with broccoli and cauliflower, when the air is
redolent with burnt cornstalks and sweet decay. At any time, though,
this dish served before an arista (pork with roasted rosemary),
a wedge of pecorino cheese and ripe, fragrant pears spells contentment.
As for wine, what is needed here is something to work with the slightly
bitter and peppery character of the dish. We tried several wines,
but because none seemed ideal, we consulted Charles Scicolone, the
knowledgeable wine director of the Apulian restaurant I Trulli and
its adjacent enoteca in Manhattan. Pasta with cime di rape is a
signature dish at this acclaimed restaurant and he suggested the
Apulian white, Locorotondo, which is made from a blend of local
grapes. We had tasted this unusual white only once, in Italy, and
we were delighted to re-discover that its ripe, sweet and meaty
apple flavor transformed the piquancy of the greens into something
winsome. The Locorotondo called Tallinaio from the Cantina Sociale
di Locorotondo ($9) makes this dish sing.
We can now look at pesto alla Genovese, another simple but delicious
sauce that is similar in color and ingredients to cime di rape,
but differs greatly in texture, taste, preparation and origin. Traditionally,
pesto alla Genovese is made with oil, garlic, basil and pine nuts
and claimed indisputably by Liguria, a region so possessive of its
recipe that it insists the real stuff be made only with the region's
fruity green olive oil and intoxicatingly fragrant basil. Served
in Liguria with trenette (broad noodles), but suited to virtually
any pasta shape, pesto is the perfect answer to a no-cook pasta
dressing. Requiring just a few quick whirs in the food processor,
pesto, with its garlic and oil base, is another elementary sauce
that can be prepared with any leafy herb or pulpy vegetable.
In the absence of a Ligurian villa overlooking the Mediterranean,
any sun-drenched patio or balcony provides the idyllic setting for
a leisurely lunch of pasta al pesto, accompanied by some sliced
tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, a few pieces of crusty bread and
a nicely chilled bottle of white wine for easy quaffing. The ideal
match is an unsung wine made from pigato, a Ligurian variety that
possesses a delicacy and freshness, in addition to a subtle herbal
quality equal to that of the basil. An excellent choice is Le Rus
Se Ghine from Bruna ($15) in Liguria. An equally fine bottling,
also Ligurian, is that of Colle dei Bardellini's pigato-based Vigna
la Torretta ($15).
Unlike other classic Italian sauces, which are lightly cooked or
not cooked at all, ragł is responsible for producing the image of
the archetypal long-simmering sauce stirred by the equally long-suffering
cook. That's because tenderizing and extracting juices from meat
requires considerable cooking time. To be fair, there is hardly
a region of Italy that doesn't boast some version of a marinara-based
meat sauce. In different parts of Tuscany, for example, a ragł dish
can run the gamut from wide noodles with hare sauce (pappardelle
con lepre) to pasta with a ragł incorporating wild boar, pheasant
or chicken liver. The popular Neapolitan version uses beef, prosciutto,
onions, garlic and red wine.
The Bolognese version of ragł offered here digresses the most in
that it deletes garlic, substitutes butter for oil, includes veal
and pork as well as beef, and adds white wine and cream to the mix.
We have chosen it because it is an arrestingly delicious sauce that
is both famous and widely imitated. In fact, tagliatelle alla Bolognese
is just one of a trinity of typical pasta dishes (lasagne and tortellini
are the others) that make Emilia-Romagna, for many serious food
lovers, the regional capital of Italian cuisine. Its fresh, delicate
pastas are perfect counterpoints for its native sauces, the most
well-known of which is ragł. Tagliatelle alla Bolognese is appropriate
for special occasions if served with a veal roast, or it can be
a casually elegant main course when accompanied by some young, pencil-thin
asparagus or sautéed chard.
The ambrosial luxuriousness and sweetness of a proper Bolognese
sauce should not be masked by a wine that is too exuberant. What
is called for is a light red wine that has enough sapidity to accentuate
the sauce. The Santa Costanza novello from Castello Banfi ($8),
Italy's eloquent response to France's Beaujolais nouveau, is a joyous
quaffing wine that accentuates the mouth-watering quality of the
sauce. Another apt wine is Concerto, a Lambrusco from the firm of
Medici Ermete ($15) in Reggio-Emilia. For those biased against the
more common fizzy, soda pop versions of this wine, the Concerto
serves as a real surprise because it avoids the stereotype while
remaining fresh and engaging. Another red that works equally well
is a Rosso di Montalcino, not as authoritative or austere as a full-blown
Brunello di Montalcino, but with plummy flavors and enough grip
to marry well with the ragł. Among the several Rosso di Montalcino
that can be recommended are those of Argiano ($21), Caparzo ($20)
and Castello Banfi ($21). For the robust ragłs of Tuscany and Umbria,
where game and innards are more customarily used as the meat base,
red wines of a pronounced character are required to offset the faintly
gamy and earthy qualities of the sauce. We suggest the sangiovese
and canaiolo blend Rubesco, a Rosso di Torgiano from the Umbrian
firm of Lungarotti ($12).
The Roman pasta alla carbonara stands alone among the eight dishes
profiled because it is not a derivative of either the aglio e olio
or the marinara. An unctuously rich sauce made with eggs, pancetta,
cream and black pepper, carbonara stands out even more than the
other classics because it is dreamily delicious and a clear choice
among both our friends and acquaintances. A monthlong conference
in Salzburg that we attended some years ago brought pasta alla carbonara's
popularity into focus for us. By month's end, having had our fill
of sausage, potatoes and cabbage, we yearned for our own soul food.
Having determined to cook our own farewell dinner, it was with remarkable
dispatch that the entire group of 90 attendees (from various ethnic
backgrounds) selected pasta as the main course, and it was with
equal alacrity that we decided it had to be pasta alla carbonara.
Some translate carbonara as charcoal burner's style (believing it
to be an ancient dish of the carbonari, or coal miners), others
insist that carbonara refers to the liberal sprinklings of ground
black pepper that look like tiny pieces of coal. Still others hold
that the recipe was born when American GIs brought their ration
of bacon and eggs to their Italian lovers who cooked them with spaghetti.
Whatever its origins, this earthy dish makes a great late supper
and is elegant enough to deserve formal attire and sterling silverware.
The lushness of alla carbonara, accented by the spiciness of the
pancetta and crushed pepper, is best met with a silky and distinctive
white wine. Ruffino's Libaio ($9) is a fine selection because of
its harmonious blend of several varieties, including chardonnay.
The Sauvignon Blanc Serena from Banfi's Montalcino ($18) estate
is also an ideal choice because it has enough zing and caressing
smoothness to make the match work (unlike some other wines from
this grape, the Serena is not too sauvage). Yet another attractive
candidate, made from the impressive grechetto (a clone of the ancient
greco grape), is simply called Grechetto from the Umbrian producer
Falesco ($12).
Italy's classic pasta sauces, from the rudimentary marinara to the
robust ragł and divine carbonara, are as emblematic as its green,
red and white flag, the columns on a Roman ruin or a Verdi aria.
Timeless and enduring, they are both the foundation and building
blocks of Italian culture at home and abroad.
Barbara and Edward Beltrami are New York-based writers who regularly
contribute to The Wine News on Italian wine and cuisine
First
published in The Wine News
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