Fork and Gobble It: My Little Sweetie

Fridays on the BottleBlog will feature a food-related article, wine pairing, or travelogue. Today, Wine Manager Mark Ricca shares his Valentine's Day dinner recipe.

Dolcetto, literally "Little Sweet One." seemed like a good wine choice for a Valentine's Day dinner for two. It is a Piedmontese wine I have been singing the praises of for quite a while and very sincerely so. I love it for its value. Most of the producers in Piedmonte known for their Barolos, such as Giacosa, Vietti, Parusso, Aldo Conterno, Luigi Pira, or Roberto Voerzio, do a Dolcetto as well and it is a windfall for the consumer. Look up a description of the wine and it is almost always referred to as a simple wine meant for quaffing with antipasti. When in the hands of any one of the above mentioned, it becomes quite a bit more.

Unlike its name would imply, Dolcetto is not a sweet wine, but a dry one with relatively low acid (usually), soft tannins (again usually), and flavors that range from cherry, licorice, herbs, crushed stone and tobacco. There are many recognized appellations (DOCs/DOCGs) that produce the wine, the bigger and best known being the villages of Alba, Dogliani and the Langhe region. These wines are far more intense in their concentration of flavors and their tannic structure which can produce some serious "grip."

I picked up a bottle of the Parusso Dolcetto d'Alba Piani Noce 2009 for a belated dinner with my significant other. Once a year I prepare her favorite "Eatalian" dinner: Chicken Parmigiana with spaghetti on the side. I am all too happy to oblige her request and try and elevate this pizzeria staple with a scratch cook touch.

Chicken Parmigiana w/Spaghettini Pommadoro
-2 boneless/skinless chicken cutlets
-1 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper
-2 eggs, lightly beaten

-1 ½ cups fresh breadcrumbs mixed with:
---1 Tablespoon each dried oregano and basil
---1 Teaspoon dried thyme
---1 cup freshly grated Reggiano Parmigiano cheese (not packed)


Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour and shake off the excess. Dip the floured breasts in the beaten egg, let the excess drain off and place in the seasoned breadcrumbs.

With the dry hand, scoop seasoned breadcrumbs onto the breasts, pressing the crumbs on. Remove the breaded breasts to a clean plate.

Have ready:
-1 qt. Your favorite tomato sauce
-4 slices mozzarella cheese (fresh works great)

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Heat olive oil poured to a depth of ½ inch in a sufficiently large pan over a medium heat. The oil is ready for frying when a bit of breadcrumb dropped in it buzzes and sizzles on top of the oil. Carefully place the breaded breasts in the hot oil letting the last bit fall into the oil AWAY FROM YOU.

Turn the breasts after about a minute and a half to two minutes, again letting the last bit fall into the pan away from you so that if the hot oil splashes, it goes away from you.

While this is going on get your pasta water ready. In a covered pot heat 3 quarts of salted water over a medium heat, just getting it hot but not boiling! You do not want a pot of boiling water next to a pan of hot oil. Should the water splash into the oil it would cause a violent spatter of hot oil. Once the chicken is in the oven and the oil pushed to the side, the water can be brought to a full boil.

After another two minutes turn the heat off, remove the chicken breasts to a baking sheet, top them with 2oz. of tomato sauce and 2 slices of the cheese, and place them into the oven. Slide the pan to a back burner to allow it to cool.

Bring the salted water to a boil and cook ½ lb. of thin spaghetti or spaghettini for 5 minutes and before draining, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot over a low heat and add 8oz. Of your favorite tomato sauce. (Mine just happens to be my homemade.) Depending on how thick the tomato sauce is, add about half the reserved cooking water. The spaghettini will be a little under done after boiling for only five minutes and the idea is to finish cooking it for 3 minutes more in the diluted sauce to help it pick up the flavor of the sauce. I usually splash in a little extra virgin olive oil also and the starch in the pasta cooking water incorporates the oil into the sauce. At this point the chicken breasts will be done and the pasta should be at the right consistency.

Plate the breasts and pasta and top with some more freshly grated Parmigiano cheese.

The wine was a perfect match for the food and not coincidentally, Dolcetto is a great BYO wine to bring to one's favorite pizza establishment. All of the producers mentioned above should be available in our store at any given time. They range in price from mid teens up to about $20.00, so there really is no excuse not to check them out. Enjoy!!!