Seriously Italian: Spaghetti All'Ubriaco
Editor's note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina!
"I was so visibly excited by it, my waiter led me into the kitchen to shake the chef's hand and learn how to make it."
Every now and then the intrepid eater will encounter a dish that can only be described as mind-blowing. My first bite of this spaghetti, served at a bustling osteria not far from Florence's Piazza Santa Croce, almost made my head spin right off. I was so visibly excited by it, my waiter led me into the kitchen to shake the chef's hand and learn how to make it.
Spaghetti All'Ubriaco translates as "drunken spaghetti;" the drunk part comes from cooking the pasta in a bath of red wine. The pasta takes on a purple-brown hue and sucks up all the wine flavor, and is then finished in a pan with a bit of butter, olive oil, toasted garlic and splash of raw wine.
Man, this is good stuff. I'm talking "off the charts, eat-it-right-outta-the-pan" good, standing up, hunched over your counter—a dish you want to keep on eating until a button flies away from your midsection.
All you need to reach a similar height of ecstasy is a decent bottle or two of red wine—nothing special, just good, drinkable red wine. In Italy, this is the sort of thing you would cook with sfuso, or loose wine that is sold, fill-your-own-bottle style by the local enoteca, consortium, or vineyard. Don't blow a bottle of riserva on this recipe, but use a wine that you would not hesitate drinking.
The only caveat is in stepping over the rule of boiling pasta in a large amount of boiling water. Here you can feel fine about cooking the pasta in less liquid than you are normally accustomed to using. The proportion isn't as drastic as some of the tests in this recent New York Times article, but it is important to stir the pasta often to prevent any sticking. The overall reduction in liquid preserves the wine flavor that the pasta absorbs, and the final shot of wine in the pan concentrates it. I use one-half part water and one-half part wine. You can cut all of the proportions down for smaller servings. For a single four-ounce portion of spaghetti, I use 2 cups water and 2 cups wine.
I love this recipe because it serves duel purposes: a cool and funky primi course if you are entertaining, or a bowl full of truly yummy comfort food when you simply have to suck down some pasta in your jammies.
Spaghetti All'Ubriaco (Drunken Spaghetti)
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
2 quarts water
2 quarts inexpensive (but tasty and drinkable) red wine, plus ½ cup for the pan
1 lb. thick spaghetti or linguine
2 fat cloves of garlic, or four small cloves
2 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Peperoncino or dried red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
1/4 cup chopped, flat-leaf Italian parsley
Procedure
1. Add the water and red wine to a 6-quart stock pot and place it over medium-high heat. Season the liquid generously with kosher salt and cover the pot to bring it to a boil.
2. In the meantime, peel the garlic and slice it. Place the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan large enough to fit the pasta and place it over low heat to slowly melt the butter.
3. When the water and wine come to a boil, add your spaghetti; stirring as needed to engulf the pasta in the liquid. As the spaghetti cooks, stir it often to prevent it from sticking.
4. Add the garlic to the pan and wait for it to come to a sizzle. Add the optional peperoncino for some heat, if you like and stir the garlic, keeping the heat low to prevent it from scorching
5. When the garlic is toasted pale and sizzling, add the additional ½ cup of red wine and a generous splash of the pasta cooking water to the pan and turn up the heat until the liquid simmers.
6. Test the spaghetti for doneness; when it is al dente, transfer it to the sauté pan along with the parsley. Keep cooking the spaghetti in the juices, tossing and shaking the pan until the liquid is absorbed.
7. Serve immediately on warm plates. The pasta is delicious without grated cheese, but you can grate a bit of Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top if you like.
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41 Comments:
What is the name of the restaurant? I'm going to Florence and this sounds like something I would love to try there!
roxlet at 9:42AM on 04/02/09
In step 6, do you drain the pasta before adding it to the saute pan, or add it with all the wine/water cooking liquid and keep cooking till everything is absorbed
klary at 10:16AM on 04/02/09
I have the same question as klary -- do you drain the pasta in step 6?
dag556 at 10:30AM on 04/02/09
What klary asked...
BobbieAnne at 10:32AM on 04/02/09
This looks pretty awesome. I bet it needs some salt, though.
maggiej at 10:41AM on 04/02/09
Thanks Gina!
I, too, would like to know the restaurant in Firenze.
Maggie, I bet the salt in the cooking liquid does the trick.
Klary, Dag556 - I would just transfer the noodles with a pasta fork so some liquid comes over with it.
(and just because I'm a grammar nut: dual, not duel.)
Robbin_G at 10:48AM on 04/02/09
The answer is pretty obvious, you wouldn't want to add one gallon of cooking liquid to the pan, would you?
simon at 10:54AM on 04/02/09
The restaurant is Osteria De Benci. It is very touristy and I did not find the staff or service remotely welcoming or warm - almost rude, and we speak Italian and have traveled extensively through Italy. I had this pasta and it was just okay, nothing special, but everyone has their own palate and favorites. I would not make any special trip for this restaurant or dish.
ciaociao at 11:12AM on 04/02/09
Hi,
Sorry about the salt and draining confusion.
If you salt your pasta water generously, it should do the trick, but by all means, season this dish, or any dish, to your taste with salt.
And yes, drain the pasta whichever method you choose - some folks dump it into a strainer, I lift it out with tongs, or you may have one of those pasta pots with a drainer insert....
As for the dish just being okay - well, I enjoyed it and still do. Thank you for recalling the name of the restaurant; it has been some years since I was there and I had forgotten (sorry - chemo brain strikes). They were very kind to me when I was there.
Guess I didn't do a very good job this week - I apologize Serious Eaters and Team!
Gina DePalma at 11:59AM on 04/02/09
No apologies needed - the recipes sounds fantastic and I plan on trying it with some high qual pasta, like rusticella, bionaturae, or another bronze die extruded and air dried pasta. I will probably use more butter, but that's just the french in me :)
simon at 12:09PM on 04/02/09
You did a great job, Gina... you've inspired me to make this for dinner tomorrow night!
ultraviolet79 at 12:11PM on 04/02/09
I don't know, Gina -- I think you did just fine. I'm with Ultraviolet79 on trying this for dinner tomorrow night. Thanks for sharing!
bansidhe at 12:35PM on 04/02/09
I love new twists on simple pasta - thanks for this recipe! I wonder if homemade, fresh pasta would hold up well to this treatment too...
jujyfruit at 12:43PM on 04/02/09
Wow! This sounds amazing! Thank you so much for posting and sharing. I can't wait to try it!
Martini Me at 12:47PM on 04/02/09
Sounds wonderful! I'm headed to Florence this summer and will track that restaurant down and will probably try to make this, as well, before I go. Looks and sounds fabulous!
Lara_Nell at 2:32PM on 04/02/09
Definitely plan on making this one.
maggiej at 2:32PM on 04/02/09
"I was so visibly excited by it, my waiter led me into the kitchen to shake the chef’s hand and learn how make it."
Gina that is so awesome.
The minute I read that I was thinking "THATS SO SOMETHING I WOULD DO!"
hungrychristel at 2:41PM on 04/02/09
Gina, you've inspired me to leave my house and look for some bucatini right now, because I really want to make this tonight (and because bucatini seems like a good choice of pasta for it). You have nothing to apologise for, well done!
brooke29 at 2:51PM on 04/02/09
Holy crap this sounds good. When the pasta turns out that color it can't be anything but delicious.
And I'd add extra butter, too. But I'm not French, just incredibly gluttonous.
BangieB at 2:55PM on 04/02/09
I am with Brooke29. My first thought was bucatini for maximum wine absorption. Yum!
I have seen or heard of this method of cooking the pasta in wine before, but it was buried in the messy file cabinet in the back of my mind. Thanks for moving to the "action" folder.
This looks like a winner to me! Thanks, Gina!
Cheers,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 6:32PM on 04/02/09
Thanks for being patient with me, folks! I heart SE!
I bet bucatini would be great with this method. Remember, proportions are all relative. You may want more wine in both pans for more wine flavor, and yes, more butter or olive oil may suit your needs!
Hope all the experiments work! My mom and I scarfed ours down pretty fast...
Gina DePalma at 6:53PM on 04/02/09
I just made this. Such an easy and elegant solution to dinner. Absolutely delicious. Thank you Gina!
culocho at 8:04PM on 04/02/09
Any chance it can be made with less butter/oil? I know it's not a popular viewpoint on SE, but I'd like to make this a little lighter, considering the amount of wine... (And yes, I know much of the alcohol burns off, but it's still richer than cooking with water.)
piccola at 9:42PM on 04/02/09
would this be good with pancetta?
solveig at 4:38AM on 04/03/09
Solveig wrote "would this be good with pancetta?"
Is that a rhetorical question? Pancetta would have strangers swooning at your window asking for your hand in marriage.
Thanks Gina!
alphamango at 12:46PM on 04/03/09
I made this last night to much rejoicing:
Changes - soak the pasta in a couple changes of water for 20 minutes or so before cooking. And cook in only one bottle of wine with one bottle of water. Fettucini works too.
thebigragoo at 12:59PM on 04/03/09
This sounds really good! I think I'm going to be picking up a cheap yet tasty bottle of wine on the way home tonight to try this!
cpetosa at 3:16PM on 04/03/09
I'm always looking for new and tasty pastas so I made this last night. It was fine, definitely not mind-blowing, just fine. I won't be using up two plus bottles of wine on this again, that's for sure.
VerasTastyFreeze at 5:25PM on 04/03/09
I added a piece of hot sopprasata to the pasta liquid, it added some body to the dish. Definetly not a weekly staple!
salvaggio50 at 6:14PM on 04/03/09
what a fabulous recipe! my husband's already requested that it be added to the weekly rotation. what i like most about it is how time and energy efficient it is; it really takes only a minute or two longer than the time it takes to boil pasta.
as others have mentioned above, i cut the wine to water ratio in half and found that to be more than sufficient.
cstivers at 7:28PM on 04/03/09
This is one of my favorite ways to prepare pasta (eating a bowl right now!) -- I learned in Florence too! =) But not from a restaurant, from a friend while I was studying there last spring. Method's a little different, but like someone above said, when the pasta ends up that color, you really can't go wrong.
kfarrel3 at 4:26PM on 04/04/09
I've got to admit that, like many of the other readers, I was extremely excited to make this dish. I cooked it immediately. Unfortunately, it was really mediocre - not worth making again. Better than spending your time and money on this dish is to drink the wine and just make a traditional pasta with butter and oil sauce. That's more like it!
shavior at 9:41AM on 04/05/09
I made this dish last night using fusilli col buco instead of spaghetti. I cut the recipe in half and followed it to a "T". I made the mistake of literally adding " generous" amount of kosher salt to the wine/water used to boil the pasta and added a small handful. This turned out waaaaaaaaay too salty! My husband was completely turned off by it and made me promise not to make it again. I may anyway, but will stick to my usual 1 T. of salt in the boiling water. But then again... I may just make this without the wine - which is essentially Aglio e Olio which I LOVE and make fairly often. (I'll just DRINK my wine.)
debralu at 2:57PM on 04/05/09
I just made this. Turned out wonderful. I'm a huge aglio-olio fan anyway and make it all the time, so this to me was just a new exciting way to make it. Is it worth the extra $10 I spent on the bottle of wine I used? Maybe not. I'll save this recipe for special occasions, but I did reserve a glass of wine for myself to drink on the side. I used only 1 bottle of wine, so my water to wine ratio was 2 to 1. I used Shiraz for the wine. I used fettuccine and that worked great. I also added katamala olives at the end, which is something I do a lot with spaghetti aglio-olio and I think it made a huge difference in this recipe. Really glad I added them. They are purple already, so it fit right in. :)
Bottom line, this was so good that even though I made a double batch and reserved some for leftovers, I ended up finishing my first plate and then diving into the reserve stash as well. Ate it all in one sitting.
ShazzyD at 10:26PM on 04/05/09
Sounds tasty, we're trying it tonite!
Assuming we like it, do you suppose we could bottle up the pasta water & put in the fridge or freezer for a while? Save that wine for another time.....
lrciii at 1:56PM on 04/06/09
This sounds absolutely divinely delicious! I must try this dish soon. I wish I had known about it several years ago when I was making pasta almost nightly. This would have made me feel so rich, as if I were in the lap of luxury!
skyeyes at 7:38PM on 04/08/09
Made this last night and it was fantastic! I added some pancetta and cooked before adding the sliced garlic. This will definatley go into my easy weeknight repertoire. Thanks!
dfennig at 4:52PM on 04/09/09
Your writing was amazing and I had this dish on my mind for a while before getting to make it. It smelled awesome, I used a Cotes du Rhone (we're in France), salted the water/wine (2 bottles of each) with a handful of kosher salt and followed the directions to a T, EXCEPT we didn't have parsley. It was just so-so, and I was really disappointed! We needed to add salt and parmesan because it was pretty bland. Part of me wants to try it again with a different wine to see if that helps. My husband, not so much.
But BRAVO for your writing- honestly I have had this on my mind for a week because of your description! I think that if I could taste it 'for real' I may be able to pinpoint why mine was so blah and boring...
fsutrill at 2:25PM on 04/17/09
Hi Gina,
I just wanted to let you know I made this last night. I was in Florence last week and did not get a chance to try it while I was there, but needed something quick to make for myself and my BF for dinner. This is an awesome recipe! I made it with bucatini and served wedges of Pecorino Crotonese on the side (my market was sadly out of Pecorino Toscano) along with roasted green beans. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Amandarama at 7:33AM on 04/30/09
can no one give me any hints on how to improve my dismal outing with this dish? THANKS!
fsutrill at 2:55PM on 06/15/09
I studied in Florence for 4 months this past spring. This meal at Osteria de'Benci was the best of the semester. I did not find the staff rude at all. My other two guests enjoyed their dishes as well and the casa di vino rosso was very very good.
bets31 at 12:12PM on 07/23/09