Putting Cheap Wine To Good Use

How often has someone brought you a cheap bottle of wine that you really don't want to drink?  It doesn't happen to me much, because I can't really tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine, but if I open a bottle and don't like the taste, I don't want to throw it out.  There are a couple of things you can do with cheap wine, other than drink it.  One is to turn it into sangria.  Add fruit juice and fruit and you've got a wonderful, refreshing cocktail.  There are many sangria recipes on the internet, so I won't give you one here.  You can also turn it into a past dish, which I will share here with you.  It is adapted from a recipe by Michael Chiarello, a wonderful chef.  Try this one with your next bottle of cheap wine.

                                            Cheap Wine Pasta Dish

 

Ingredients

1½ pounds rapini (broccoli rabe)

1 pound spaghetti

1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine, preferably Zinfandel

1 tablespoon sugar

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic (about 4 cloves)

¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rapini and cook for 3 minutes or until just tender. Transfer the rapini to a baking sheet and let cool. In the same boiling water, cook the spaghetti, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. (The pasta will finish cooking in the Zinfandel.) Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta and set it aside. Return the empty pasta pot to the stove.
2. Add the wine and sugar to the pasta pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until reduced by half, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the pasta and shake to prevent the pasta from sticking. Gently stir with tongs until coated and boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is al dente, about 4 to 5 minutes.
3. While the pasta cooks in the wine, heat a large, deep skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the garlic until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the rapini, red-pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add ½ cup of the reserved pasta water, or more if desired, and stir to combine.
4. Add the rapini mixture to the pasta pot, toss gently and transfer to a platter. Sprinkle with the cheese and serve.