Ahhhhh! I have been wine food pairing with all the traditional Austrian specialties for the last few weeks now and I just had a hankering for something different.The fridge showed a couple of chicken breasts that were calling out to me. What to do ... I also felt like pasta would be good. How about chicken Parmesan served over a bed of pasta ... sounds like a perfect wine and food plan to me ...lol!
It was kind of funny to think about it, but I started off my chicken breasts very much like the Austrians do their schnitzels ... whacking, dredging, dipping and dredging again ... then sauteing in butter and EVOO ... great minds must think alike.
Angel hair pasta goes into boiling salted water for a couple of minutes and I heat up a red sauce that I got at the local market ... the jar of sauce was imported from Italy and being that they are neighboring countries I figured I'd be pretty safe. Well, it was pretty good, not like having Mama in the kitchen, but definitely worthy of a quick meal.
Everything was layered on a large pasta platter and I thinly sliced some parm to top it all off. A salad of fresh greens drizzled with my favorite balsamico vinegar and pumpkin seed oil and dinner was ready for serving.
BigAl found a Blauer Zweigelt from Österreich (austria) in the downstairs wine cellar, popped the cork and we were ready. Zweigelt was named after Dr. Zweigelt, the grape scientist who developed it in 1922, it's a modern variety designed for commercial wine, with a relatively short growing season that helps it thrive in the Austrian area. The Zweigelt grapes make a juicy, tart red wine that's served on almost all Austrian tables as their red table wine. YUMMO!
The scene was set with the leaves outside just starting to turn colors with the crisp fall days, a savory chicken parm on the table and a delicious zweigelt swirling in our wine glasses catching the candlelight. Chicken parm for the soul? Wine food pairing says why not. CHEERS!
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