Name: Spaghetti al Vino Bianco: Spaghetti Cooked in White Wine
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 26 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 T. extra virgin olive oil; 4 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/4″ pieces; 2 garlic cloves, minced; pinch red pepper flakes; 1 bottle dry white wine (750 ml); salt and freshly ground black pepper; sugar (up to 1T. added 1 teaspoonful at a time, if needed); 1 lb. spaghetti; one small head of Petite Tango lettuce or 1 c. arugula; 1/3 c. cream; 1/2 c. grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving; 1/4 c. toasted pine nuts

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Spaghetti al Vino Bianco is a recipe for pasta that finishes cooking in a sauce made with reduced white wine. Add bacon, arugula, and Parmigiano- Reggiano to finish the dish.

Spaghetti al Vino Bianco is a delicious recipe for pasta, where the pasta makes its own sauce by being finished in white wine.

I’ve been wanting to try a recipe similar to this, written by Mario Batali. Batali had shared a recipe where he cooked pasta in red wine. This sounded completely intriguing to me, but when I read some reviews that said the pasta turned an unappealing dull purple hue, I decided I’d hold off trying his recipe.

Then, I ran into this recipe by Cooks Illustrated, that uses white wine. I was eager to try it, since I figured that would solve the “purple” problem.

Do You Really Cook the Pasta in Wine?

“Pasta cooked in wine” is a bit deceptive: it actually only finishes cooking in wine. Most of its cooking occurs in the usual large pot of boiling, salted water.

What Does Reducing the Wine Mean?

While the pasta is cooking in that big pot of water, you intensify the flavor of the wine by reducing it. That simply means bringing it to a boil to allow the alcohol and some of the water to cook out of it, thus causing the flavor of the wine to be more concentrated.

You then add even more flavor to the dish by introducing some aromatics, like garlic and red pepper flakes. The slightly undercooked pasta gets added to the wine reduction, where it absorbs all that delicious wine flavor you’ve developed. Following that, you finish the sauce with cream and grated Pecorino Romano.

Next, briefly steam a delicate green on top of the pasta. And finally, you add texture, color and flavor by sprinkling your plate of sauced pasta and greens with crispy pancetta or bacon, and toasted pine nuts.

So that’s the general idea, and the finished product is so good!

SO good!!!

(Although, I admit, it was much more to MY taste, than to my husband’s taste. He liked it, but didn’t LOVE it.)

Notes for Changes/Adaptations I Made:

First, in regard to less common ingredients: the recipe called for pancetta, and the one I used came from Whole Foods, pre-sliced and pre-packaged. It was wonderful! I would definitely use it again. Bacon would be a great substitute if you don’t have easy access to pancetta. However, I really enjoyed the unique peppery flavor of the pancetta.

Second: The recipe also called for Pecorino Romano, which I happened to have on hand. If you don’t have any, you could substitute Parmesan, which has a nuttier flavor. I’d actually be interested in trying this recipe next time with Parmesan instead. (Pecorino Romano is made from sheep’s milk, and is much more pungent.)

Third: I didn’t have any arugula, which is what the original recipe called for. But I did have a delicate artisanal lettuce that I purchased from Costco called Petite Tango, that looked a bit like frisée. It worked great! These days, I tend to keep arugula on hand a lot more, so I’ll try it next time with arugula.

Fourth: (and in regard to the wine I chose): The wine I used was a Picpoul de Pinet. Cooks Illustrated recommends a good-quality dry white wine, but to avoid a Chardonnay that is heavy on oaked flavor.

The Picpoul de Pinet was dry, with just a hint of sweetness, delicious to sip all on its own. But if I’d make one change to the finished recipe, I’d add about a teaspoon more of sugar to the sauce. Cooks Illustrated mentioned that if the sauce’s taste was too sharp, the cook should add up to a tablespoonful of sugar, one teaspoon at a time, according to taste. I added one teaspoon of sugar, which helped the flavor immensely, considering the tartness of the flavor that the wine I had chosen had produced. I was afraid to add too much, and so I think I erred on the side of too much caution. Next time, I’ll probably try a Sauvignon Blanc.

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Now, on to my adaptation of Cooks Illustrated recipe for: