At Hop Vine & Still we love food almost as much as we love wine! Our resident chef Amy loves creating great food and wine pairings. She has put together her first in what I hope to be a long series of some of her favourite recipe creations with suggestions for the perfect wines to enjoy them with.
We hope you enjoy Amy’s creation and our recommended wines pairings!
Creamy Pork Sausage & Fennel Pasta
Serves: 4
A cosy and indulgent hug of a meal, this pasta is something I repeatedly turn to as the winter chill is now creeping into our evenings.
Easy enough to whip up in roughly half an hour, you’ll be comforted with a full plate to enjoy with a glass of crisp wine in no time.
Ingredients:
4 pork sausages (meat removed from skins)
400g caserecce or orecchiette
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sized fennel bulb, very thinly cut
1 cup of grated pecorino or parmesan
1 bunch of parsley, roughly chopped (stems included, but chopped finer)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup cream (whole milk works too)
• Start by heating a deep skillet to medium/high with 3tbsp of olive oil.
• Add in your sausage meat and sliced fennel and stir occasionally to
caramelise the two (approx. 10 minutes).
• Cook off the parsley stems, garlic and chilli flakes for a few minutes.
• Deglaze the pan first with the wine, and shortly after add in your stock.
• Stir through the cream, and let simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• While the sauce is simmering, cook your pasta. Make sure to save a spoonful of the water to toss through your pasta later once it is cooked.
• Once the pasta is cooked to just under al dente, mix it through your sauce with a little bit of the extra pasta water, the rest of the parsley, and half of the grated cheese. You’re looking for the pasta to mix with the sauce into a luscious, creamy pot of goodness.
We love to pair this dish with a white wine that packs enough acidity to cut through the richness of the pork and enough creaminess to soften the punchy savoury fennel and chilli.
Here are our picks
Bream Creek 2022 Pinot Grigio does all that and more, with its notes of bright, zesty green apple and pear that classically compliments this pork pasta dish.
Another elegant match is the Sinapius Clem Blanc 2022 - a blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gruner Veltliner that results in this yeasty, saline, and complex pour. Deliciously easy drinking, with many citrus notes and subtle creaminess to boost this pasta dish to its full potential.
Enjoy!
