Have a Vero Thanksgiving with some alternative food and wine selections!
As we search for things to fill and stuff and garnish, we reflect on the traditions that make Thanksgiving so special. The care and attention in selecting seasonal ingredients, mashing potatoes, preparing sauces while spices warm up the room with pumpkin and apple pies baking in the oven, make it a real, or ‘Vero’ experience.
Like in the US, pumpkin is a traditional fall ingredient in Italian food dishes, especially in northern Italy, to make, you guessed it, pasta dishes! From towns like Ferrara in Emilia to Mantua in Lombardy, they each boast of their own traditional local recipes of fresh pasta with pumpkin, whose uniqueness is often defined by the form of pasta and how the filling is made.
A local pumpkin tortelli pasta, aka tortelli di zucca alla mantovana, has the form of small square raviolis and the pumpkin filling’s secret ingredient is Amaretto liqueur, which, combined with the pumpkin, gives it an extra sweet touch. The pasta is served simply with a butter sauce, and we recommend a generous portion of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese shaved on top to offset the sweetness of the pasta filling.
This delicate, sweet and salty pasta dish is traditionally paired with a sparkling dry red Lambrusco. Lambrusco is a wine which is associated more with the region just south, called Emilia Romagna, Italy’s ‘food belt’ thanks to its rich cuisine, but also in the Modena area, Lambrusco is a tradition.
This is where Frignano is based, which is a farm-to-glass organic wine producer and the creation of Ukranian born Irene Balim, who was not crazy about the ubiquitous ‘mass produced’ Lambruscos around and wanted to create handcrafted, organic Lambruscos. So she crafts pet nat style lambruscos from a blend of 2 grapes: Lambrusco Grasparossa, a classic Lambrusco grape which provides structure, and Malbo Gentile which is fruit forward. The result, Scurone, goes great with pumpkin tortelli, as the sweet-salty flavors of the pasta synergize well with the earthy-fruitiness of this Lambrusco, making every bite of the tortelli di zucca a velvety delight.
That’s not to say that this Lambrusco would also pair well with the traditional Thanksgiving meal: having acidity and but lower tannins, it goes great with turkey and savory side dishes. And as the holidays approach, keep it in mind for gatherings. Besides being food friendly, the lightness and bubbles of this versatile wine make it a fun sipper on its own while socializing.
You can find Frignano’s organic Scurone Lambrusco at select shops in New York City, such as Veritas Studios in Manhattan or Parlour Wine and Spirits in Brooklyn, and in Los Angeles, at Vendome Tocula Lake or Uncorked in Hermosa Beach. Or you can buy it online at www.verovino.com