Impromptu Pasta Parties

and the wine you should serve

On Sunday night, I decided to “make some pasta” for my twin sister, Frannie, and her boyfriend, Andre, whose San Francisco condo I’ve become way too comfortable in over the last few days. It was my way of saying thanks for letting me crash and doing fun things with me! Except I’ve never just “made some pasta.” I’m an extremely neurotic, type A, anxious person, and everything I’ve ever done reflects those qualities.

Exhibit A: the google doc I created to guide this casual, off-the-cuff, totally unplanned pasta experience:

I’m super chill about everything especially dinner (Dino is my sister’s dog and obviously our guest of honor.)

With absolutely zero pressure or prompting, I decided to turn a casual pasta party into a 6-course dinner. That is just who I am at my core. 

Number one best boy who obviously deserves a dinner party named after him (ignore the laundry in the BG)

Dinner was perfect. We started with a rustic cheese board that Fran put together. She’s all whimsical and chic and effortless (basically everything I’m not) and as a result, her cheeseboards are always perfectly curated (but not in an overdone way). The cheese on the top left was a spruce bark-wrapped oozy situation by Jasper Hill (called Harbison) which she just casually picked out to compliment the aged gouda and manchego. Genius. (Also: I’m team fresh bread over crackers for a cheese board. I’m pretty sure everyone feels this way and we’ve just never talked about it).

cheeseboard by Frannie, the fromage whisperer

There was, of course, pasta, and I would like to take this opportunity to formally announce that I will no longer *ever* make fresh pasta if a handcrank or kitchenaid is not available. I rolling-pin-nonna’d my way through 4 lbs of pasta dough, and I’m officially never doing that again. But it was worth it.

spinach & ricotta raviolo al uovo - my firstborn

I hope Fran & Andre appreciate the sweatshop I had to open up in their kitchen in order to make this happen

There was also *too much wine.* Which is what prompted this post. 

I am extremely particular about wine–if you’re surprised about this then you clearly haven’t been paying attention. While I’d love nothing more than to serve the funkiest, cloudiest, tangiest of orange wines, I’m also an extreme people pleaser! I’d argue any good host is. I want to make sure the wine I’m pouring fits with my vibe and the food I’m serving but is also accessible and delicious to those who don’t prefer their wine with chunks of sediment and tasting like kombucha.

In an ideal world you’d have a whole range of wines– and one day we’ll talk about that. But if you’re not in the mood to overthink wine, one of my favorite things to do is serve a nice, juicy, chilled light red. Here’s my reasoning: chilled light reds are, generally speaking, the happy medium. They’re light enough not to overshadow delicate foods (like a steamed whitefish) but bold enough to stand up to funky cheese. They are also a PPP (perfect pasta pairing.) A light red usually satisfies the white-only wine drinkers AND the red wine drinkers. It works with most foods, too! An excellent choice in this general category is the Love Wine red blend by Broc Cellars, which is what we drank last night (52% Carignan, 42% Zinfandel, 6% Grenache Noir, according to their site). It’s a juicy light red that’s not *boring* but also not super complicated. Anyone would like this wine and it goes down easyyyyy (too easy).

But here’s the thing - it’s not always super easy to find, and at the time of writing, it’s sold out on the Broc website (although it’s available in canned form from a lot of places). If you live in NYC or LA or SF and have access to natural wine stores, you may very likely find it and if you do, GET IT! But not all of us do and I’ve promised to myself that I will not be one of the people who makes natural wine feel inaccessible and intimidating. Which is why I present to you another equally loveable light red available at Whole Foods stores across the country: Subject to Change’s California LCNS 2 CHILL - an absolute juicy chuggable stunner. (I literally cannot find a direct link to the specific bottle I’m talking about but trust me, I’ve found it at many-a-Whole Foods.)

I first stumbled upon this wine over the summer while vacationing on Hilton Head Island with my loud AF and insane family (wine was beyond necessary). Unsurprisingly there weren’t any Indie wine shops on the island but, of course, there was a Whole Foods. I was fully prepared to stick to the lovable basics–a Sauvy B, some rosé, maybe a chard - but was pleasantly surprised to find this semi-funky red blend (Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Syrah) amongst the pickings. This wine tastes like juicy tart cherries with a tiny bit of effervescence and that slightly bready taste I absolutely *love* which indicates that the wine was aged on its lees (aka the yeasts that die after eating sugar/transforming it into alcohol). Def serve this guy chilled. And preferably with some pasta.

Like i said, it’s chuggable. Definitely lost those sunglasses

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Other light reds to check out:

• All of these amazing wines by Joe Swick

• Amplify Wine’s 2020 Mixtape Red

• Lo-Fi Wines 2020 Cabernet Franc