PEAKLIFE

Master of Wine, Sonal Holland shares an amazing recipe of Pasta made using white wine.

When it comes to comfort food, few would argue about the joy of digging into a piping hot serving of pasta. Putting together a dish of pasta is fairly simple and if you are looking to take your pasta-making skills to the next level, we suggest you give Sonal Holland’s recipe a try! The Master of Wine uses white wine that helps intensify flavours of the dish and serves her light, summery version with a lightly glazed, creamy sauce. If you are not already stocked up, do pick up some pasta on your next grocery run for this simple buttery pasta recipe created with just four ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp white wine
• 1 cup pasta
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Water to boil
• Salt to taste

Method:

• In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add the pasta and season with salt. Add a few drops of oil to the boiling water to prevent pasta from sticking as it cooks.
• Cook till pasta is al-dente. Strain the pasta well using a colander. Do not discard the liquid, set aside to prepare sauce.
• Heat another skillet on medium heat, add about 3 tbsps of white wine and allow to reduce for 30 seconds to a minute, to allow the alcohol to evaporate.
• Add about 2 cups of the water reserved after straining pasta to the wine. Add 1 tbsp of butter and 1/2tsp salt and allow it to simmer. The sauce should reduce and thicken as it cooks but should still remain runny in consistency.
• Add the pasta to the simmering sauce and mix well.
• Optionally, you can also add olives, mushroom, broccoli, boiled corn or baby corn to the dish.
• Allow the sauce to reduce a little further. Add half the quantity of the grated cheese and mix well for a buttery yet lightly glazed sauce. The sauce at this stage should be creamy yet slightly runny.
• Plate the pasta, garnish with the remainder of the cheese and serve hot.

Note:
Any type of white wine can be used for this dish. The Chardonnay used in the recipe is a Californian white wine, which has a nutty, buttery flavour that adds texture and a hit of acid to the recipe.

This pasta dish is great to feed to your kids too, as the alcohol evaporates when the wine is heated, leaving behind only the fruit residue that imparts flavour.