food wine

Easy To Follow Recipes When Cooking with White Wine

Dec 01, 2021

Drop the wine vacuum pump! We’ve got a better idea.

Like you, we love to have a glass of wine every now and then. Although sometimes, we just can’t seem to finish an entire bottle on our own... and in one go (understandably). So, instead of popping it back in the fridge, we decided to take a more scrumptious approach.

Apart from pairing wines with specific dishes, cooking with white wine actually helps bring forth more of the ingredients’ flavours. It helps release “flavour molecules”. In other words, it makes each ingredient reach its full potential that other liquids aren't able to. With that in mind, we’ve gathered a handful of recipes that are worth trying and more importantly, with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Rigatoni all’Amatriciana

Recipe from Saveur

Rigatoni all’Amatriciana is essentially Rigatoni pasta with pancetta infused tomato sauce. It’s worth noting that the very sauce of this recipe comes from Salvatore Denaro, the chef at Arnaldo Caprai winery, the leading producer of Montefalco Sagrantino. The recipe yields about 6-8 servings.

Here’s what you’ll need,

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 (12-oz) piece pancetta, minced
1 tsp crushed red chile flakes
1 large yellow onion, minced
Kosher salt, to taste
1 cup dry white wine
3 (16-oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
1 lb rigatoni
1⁄2 cup grated Pecorino Romano*
*You may use Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago if you can’t find any Pecorino Romano.

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Method

Prepare a 6 quart saucepan and heat the olive oil over medium.
Once oil is heated, cook the pancetta until browned and crisp; this’ll take about 10-12 minutes.
Afterwards, add in the crushed chile flakes, onion, and salt then cook until the onion is golden. Again, about 10-12 minutes.
Now, stir in your chosen white wine then if you notice browned bits from other ingredients, start scraping them from the bottom of the pan as well then continue stirring and scraping until the wine is almost evaporated. This will take about 12-15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, boil a bit then reduce heat to medium and cook until you notice the sauce thickening. This will be about 45-50 minutes.
While waiting for the sauce to thicken, start to cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. For the timing, follow instructions from the pack of your rigatoni or chosen pasta.
Once drained, stir the pasta into the sauce with half the pecorino (or any substitute cheese of your choice).
For serving, garnish the remaining cheese.

Cozze al Pomodoro

Recipe from Saveur

White wine on the side and paired with seafood has long been a staple for many so it’s only natural that cooking them together will spark even more magical flavours. In this appetizer, white wine helps bring out the sweetness of the mussels. The recipe yields about 4-6 servings.

You’ll be needing,

Ingredients

30 mussels, steamed open
3⁄4 cup white wine
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1⁄3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1⁄3 cup bread crumbs
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 medium tomato, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

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Grati Il Cavaliere Bianco di Toscana IGT 2018

Method

Set your broiler to high.
While waiting for the broiler to heat up, discard top shells from the mussels then gather the remaining to a rimmed baking sheet.
Once gathered, grab your white wine and oil then drizzle it over the mussels.
Now, mix in the parmesan, bread crumbs, melted butter, thyme, salt and pepper.
Afterwards, broil the mussels until they’re golden brown. This takes about 2 minutes.
Serve warm and drizzle with the juices left in the pan then top with tomatoes.

Chicken Piccata

Recipe from Bon Appétit

We absolutely love boneless skinless chicken breasts-- but please, if you’re on the other end of the spectrum, hear us out first. This recipe gives a whole lot of flavor to chicken breasts and as previously mentioned, white wine has that magical ability to bring about more flavors in the ingredients and this time, it’s skinless and boneless chicken breast. This recipe will yield 4 servings.

Before you start prepping, Bon Appétit recommends that when using capers, if the ones you have are in brine, drain the liquid before adding. On the other hand, if your capers are in salt, rinse first then soak in water for 15 minutes.

Ingredients

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Kosher salt, to taste
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, smashed
⅓ cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp. drained capers, coarsely chopped
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Chopped parsley and lemon wedges, for serving

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La Capra Chenin Blanc 2020

Method

With your chicken breasts at hand, slice them in half crosswise so that it then becomes 4 cutlets. Afterwards, lightly pound each cutlet with a plastic wrap on top until you feel that there’s an even thickness.
Then, season the cutlets lightly with salt and prepare the flour in a medium shallow bowl. Grab one cutlet at a time and place it in the bowl filled with flour then coat. After coating, shake off excess then transfer to a plate.
In a large skillet, heat the 2 tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Avoid overcrowding the pan by working in batches. Cook the cutlets until deeply browned underneath, this will be about 2 minutes. Afterwards, turn them over and cook the other side only until when it's nearly cooked through, around 30 seconds. Transfer to a different plate.
Now with all the cutlets out of the pan, add garlic and the remaining tbsp oil to the skillet and cook. Stir often and avoid garlic from scorching, the ideal is to have garlic turn golden brown.
Once the garlic is golden brown, add in your white wine and capers then cook. Make sure to scrape up the browned bits as well from the bottom of the skillet then cook until liquid is almost completely evaporated. This will take around 3 minutes.
Then, add in the ½ cup of water followed by the butter. Swirl the skillet vigorously while the butter melts, this’ll help it form an emulsion with water. This will be about 1 minute.
When that’s done, grab your almost-cooked chicken cutlets and place them on the skillet and simmer until they’re all cooked through and the sauce is thick enough. You’ll know the sauce is thick enough when you can coat a spoon with it. Remove this from heat then stir the lemon juice into the sauce and season with salt.
Transfer to a serving plate, garnish with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.

Risotto

Recipe from Tasty

Risotto can be intimidating but if you don’t start now, then when? If you also want a work-out for your arms, this is the perfect dish for you to try! We found a recipe from Tasty that’s actually entitled,”How To Cook A Perfect Risotto” and naturally, it got us curious. Tasty’s also known to provide recipes that are super easy to follow. This will make 4 servings.

Ingredients

6 cups low-sodium chicken stock, or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 lb shiitake mushroom (455 g), stemmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 ½ cups arborio rice (200 g)
½ cup white wine (120 mL)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (110 g), plus more for serving
¼ cup fresh parsley (10 g), for serving

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Caldora Chardonnay Terre di Chieti IGT 2019

Method

In a medium pot, add your chosen stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low or, you can remove the pot entirely from the heat and keep it nearby.
In a wide and tall pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the shallots then cook and stir frequently until it becomes translucent.
Afterwards, add the shiitake mushrooms and butter then stir occasionally until all mushrooms have cooked down.
Add in the garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper then stir and cook this for about 1 minute, usually this is until the butter has melted and you can smell the garlic’s aroma.
Now, add the rice and stir until fully coated in the mushroom mixture. Let the rice toast for about 1-2 minutes, until it’s fragrant.
It’s now time to add the white wine and cook until it has evaporated, don’t forget to stir occasionally.
After the wine has evaporated, add 1 cup of the hot stock from a while ago and stir to combine. Cook and stir frequently until the stock is fully absorbed.
Continue to add in the stock, making sure it’s ½ cup at a time, and again, stirring continuously until the broth is fully absorbed. This will be about 15-20 minutes, depending on how quick the rice cooks, there may be some stock left.
When the rice is al dente, remove the pot from heat then add the parmesan and stir to combine.
Before you serve, top with parsley, more parmesan, salt, and pepper.

Baked Shrimp Scampi Linguine Pasta

Recipe from Tasty

This is probably the most common dish you can find that uses white wine. Why did we add it? It’s simple, quick, and who can say no to shrimp? The recipe will yield 4 servings.

Here’s what you’ll need,

Ingredients

1 lb shrimp (500 g), peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon red chili flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz butter (180 g), melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup white wine (120 mL)
8 oz linguine (250 g)
fresh parsley, to garnish
red chili flakes, to garnish

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Method

Before anything else, preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C)
Now, in a medium-sized casserole pan, combine the shrimp, salt and pepper, red chili flakes, garlic, butter, lemon juice, and white wine.
Bake this for about 10-13 minutes or when you see the shrimp is all pink and cooked thoroughly.
While waiting for the shrimp in the oven, bring 4 quarts of water with salt to a boil then cook linguine pasta al dente. Follow the package instructions for the timing.
Strain the pasta and combine with the cooked shrimp until the pasta is fully coated in the sauce.
Before serving, garnish with chopped parsley.