#ThisWineThatDish | Gold Hill Sauvignon Blanc | Pasta Primavera

“In this series, I will be sharing my take on which BC Wine pairs well with some inspirational recipes”

First the wine; having a pretty good idea of the dish the next step was to choose the wine. After numerous searches the wine that was the clear favourite was a Sauvignon Blanc. Not only does the sauv blanc match nicely with pasta, but also equally well with the cream cheese or (marscapone, creme fraise, sour cream, or cream), and the zucchini. Done, a winner!

For the recipe the inspirational dish was supposed to by the New York Times one-pot pasta with zucchini and basil, but after reading the comments, that became a non starter. For one thing who has vegetable stock available in their freezer when it isn’t soup season? While trying to maintain a zero waste kitchen has been challenging, one of the bonuses has been homemade vegetable stock made from scraps that would otherwise go to the compost. It is handy to have some in the freezer but it’s not something you would expect to use in the summer season.

The other issue was the number of comments pointing out various negative aspects of the process. The comments about overcooked zucchini were the deciding factor.

So what to do now that I was looking forward to pasta and Cream Cheese? Keep the Zucchini, fresh picked that morning, and for interest add Swiss Chard (including stems) picked 5 minutes before it went into the pan. The result was a modified, and delicious, Pasta Primavera.

BC Wine pairing suggestion:

Gold Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2020

Sourced from our spectacular Mirror Lake Vineyard, this Sauvignon Blanc is fresh and juicy. Perfect for the patio on the hot days of summer. Pair with BC seafood and oysters and fresh BC asparagus and vegetables.

This was a delightfully, wonderful choice to pair with the creamy, rich pasta and fresh garden vegetables. The wine was both light but complex. Smooth and crisp with aromas of Granny Smith apples, cut grass, a bit of Bartlett pear and mild spice. Great acidity with a tart Meyer lemon finish. So good. 

The wine stood up well to the variety of flavours in the dish; the toasted garlic and caramelized zucchini tempered by the cream cheese were dead on for the pairing. A bit more challenging the Swiss Chard; the leaves were flavourful and added a lift but the Chard stems stole the show with an earthy burst. Quite a combination but perfectly paired with the Gold Hill Sauvignon Blanc. It would be interesting to see how  this wine develops over the next year or two, if you can wait that long!

$29.99 available online

Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:

pasta of your choice, for simplicity fettuccine, spaghetti or linguine
Cream Cheese (soft style)
garlic, chopped
Zucchini (yellow and green)
Swiss Chard (substitute kale or spinach)
Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in well salted water for about 2 minutes less than package instructions. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

Chop the zucchini into “man-sized” pieces. Separate the Swiss Chard leaves from the stems and tear the leaves into large pieces. Chop the Swiss Chard stems into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped garlic, allowing the oil to become infused with the flavour of the garlic, turn up the heat to medium high and add the zucchini and Chard stems, stirring as the Zucchini browns a little. Add salt and pepper. About one minute before the pasta is finished cooking add the Swiss Chard leaves and toss. (the leaves will continue to cook once the pasta is added).

Transfer the pasta from the pot into the pan (rather than draining this allows the pasta to retain its moistness) and add the Cream Cheese. Stir just to combine and the Cream Cheese is fully incorporated. Add pasta water if you like it creamier.

Serve immediately in pasta bowls. Both simple and delicious. Enjoy!

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Wine notes courtesy of the winery. My notes (in bold italics). I received complimentary wine to facilitate this feature. All opinions are my own.