Drunken Spaghetti and Goat Cheese Salad
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About a year ago Rachael Ray competed in Iron Chef America with Mario Batali by her side. She won the Cranberry Challenge and shared a recipe for Drunken Spaghetti.
Recently, on her show, she shared another variation of this recipe. The Tuscans originated this great idea, cooking the spaghetti in wine. Rachael adds beets. You can cook this recipe with white wine and golden beets or red wine and red beets. I, like her, prefer the red wine version. She paired this with a great looking Salad with Fried Goat Cheese. This would be a definite way to impress anyone coming over for a dinner party.
Sweet Red or Yellow Drunken Pasta
Yields 4 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 bottles dry red wine, if using red beets, or 2 bottles dry white wine, for golden beets
- 1 1/2 pounds red or golden beets
- 3 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 pound thick spaghetti, such as Barilla
- 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped chives, garnish
- Parmigiano Reggiano, for passing
Preparation
Place a large pasta pot over high heat and fill it with the wine (add additional water as needed to fill it up to your normal level for preparing pasta). Salt the liquid liberally and bring it to a boil.
Clean the stem and root ends of the beets and reserve the greens to add to your salad. (Rub your hands with a little oil so the beets will not stain your hands and work on a rubber board so they don’t stain your counter.) Peel the beets with a vegetable peeler then grate them with a box grater.
Give your hands a good wash then place a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat with 3 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 3 tablespoons. When the pan is hot, add the beets and garlic, and sauté until the beets are tender, 8-10 minutes.
Once the beets go into the pan, drop your pasta into the boiling water and prepare it to al dente according to package directions. When the pasta is ready to be drained, reserve a mugful of the starchy colored cooking water and then go ahead and drain the pasta.
Add a few splashes of the reserved water to the beets and toss the pasta into the pan with them. Season everything up with salt and ground black pepper, then turn it out into a serving dish and garnish with the chopped chives.
Yields 4 Servings
Ingredients
- Flour, for coating
- 1 egg, beaten with a splash of water
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 8-ounce log plain goat cheese, well-chilled
- 5 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 heart romaine, chopped
- 2 cups beet greens, coarsely chopped or baby arugula
Preparation
Set up three dishes on the counter: Fill the first with flour, the second with the egg and the third with a combination of the breadcrumbs, garlic powder, lemon zest, parsley and sesame seeds.
Slice the goat cheese into four equal-sized sections then slice each of those sections into four discs, giving you 16 pieces total. Coat each piece in flour, then in egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture. Once they’re all coated, set them aside while your pan heats up.
Place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Once the oil is hot, place the coated discs of goat cheese into the pan and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side (be very careful when you’re turning them over so that you don’t puncture the breading or all of your cheese will spill out).
Remove the discs from the pan onto a paper towel-lined plate and let them drain while you make your salad.
In the bottom of a large salad bowl, combine the lemon juice with the Dijon mustard and whisk in 3 tablespoons EVOO. Season the dressing with salt and ground black pepper.
Add the greens to the bowl and give everything a good toss. Top the salad with the fried goat cheese (4 discs per person) and serve.
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POSTED IN: Rachael Ray, Recipes
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