Let me set the scene
This is the dish I make when I want a dinner to feel special. Candles lit, a bottle open on the counter, butter browning in the pan, and sage crackling as it hits the heat. It makes your kitchen smell like salt and butter with just a kiss of herbs and citrus, and when I tell you my mouth is watering just writing this, you’d better believe it.
It’s also come highly requested from friends when they come over for dinner… even when they had it the last time they came over, too.
What’s on the plate
Meet my brown-butter sage tagliolini. It’s a rustic pasta with crispy fried sage leaves, super salty guanciale (the real star of the show here), warming spices, a bit of lemon and TONS of fresh 36-month parmigiano. Duh. It’s rich in flavor, but light on the palate - and when I tell you it takes maybe 20 minutes to make, you might not believe me…BUT I can guarantee that the people you serve this to will be dreaming about it days later.
How to Pair It
Now, you could go one of two ways with this one - you could play into the subtle warming notes of the spice blend OR you could play into the zestiness of the citrus.
If you wanted to go for the lighter, brighter side - a Rosso di Montepulciano would be my pick for you. It usually runs a little bright and juicy, with a beautiful acidity to it (it comes from being a younger wine) and you get a lot of red currant and cranberry that’ll pair incredibly well with the lemon on this plate. It has just enough body to hold its own with the guanciale, and that acidity cuts right through the richness without overwhelming the dish, which makes it the perfect companion.
But let’s say you wanted to lean into the warming spices. Maybe you want to go for something that feels like it’s been aged a little bit longer and doesn’t have the tang of a younger wine. My two picks for you would be an Amarone or a Super Tuscan. High in concentration of flavors, heavy on the raisin, black currant and chocolate notes - these are two wines that would elevate the warming spices on this plate and bring them to an entirely new level.
Below, I'm sharing the full recipe (yes, the 20-minute version) and the exact bottles I'd pour with it.
Full Recipe & Wine Pairing Breakdown
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