My friend Stace posted this recipe on her very popular food blog, Stacey Snacks. Diana made the dish and I supplied the wine, a delicious white from Sicilia. It was a match made in heaven. Sicily is very close to heaven, and hell for that matter, when you think about it, but that's life in all its splendor.
The dish came from Summit, NJ, yett I think it has great Southern Italian, and probably Sicilian, roots. It is made with bucatini or perciatelli my very favorite pasta and is adapted from a recipe found in Food and Wine magazine by renowned chef Mark Vetri, of Vetri in Philadelphia, one of American's best Italian restaurants..
Food and Wine suggests paring the dish with a wine of Fiano grapes, another great wine from Southern Italy, but I think the Inzolia, Catarratto and Grecanico fruit especially as they are manifested in this wine called Regaleali Bianco are a perfect complement to the flavors of this dish.
Count Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita first produced this wine on the Regaleali Estate near the tiny village of Vallelunga in Sicily. Today the wine is made by Laura Orsi. The winery is run by the Tasca d’Almerita family with Count Lucio (Count Giuseppe’s son) and Lucio's two sons.
As I said it is a blend of three Sicilian grapes-- Inzolia, Catarratto and Grecanico. Like many Italian white wines it has a straw yellow color. It is does not have a lot of body but still produces bright aromas and flavors of of green apples, peach, pear and grapefruit.
The estate is said to be practically self sufficient, producing most of the vegetables, fruits, wheat, olives, cheeses and meats that the people who visit and live there need. And Marchesa Anna Tasca Lanza, Count Lucio’s sister, runs one of the best in cooking schools on the estate. She has inspired culinary greats like Julia Child and Alice Waters and many others.
Stace's recipe could easily find a place at Anna's school. It is has delicous nutty flavors of cauliflower and brussels sprouts and as Stace describes "I told you I wanted to throw those anchovy garlic brea dcrumbs over everything! Here they are tossed with delicious caramelized brussels sprouts and cauliflower." and "it's so damn easy and I promise, you won't miss the meatballs." Like Stace this will become a favorite in our house. Here is the complete recipe.
Diana and I loved this dish as we sipped the wine and listened to some Chill/Downtempo Radio on Pandora. We had some leftovers, but they quickly disappeared as soon as our son Pierce got home.
