Lasagna Love

2008 Salmon Run Pinot Grigio and White Lasagna: 5/5

2007 Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli and Stuffed Mushrooms: 5/5

2008 Dr. Konstantin Frank Cabernet Franc and Vegetarian Lasagna: 5/5

2008 Salmon Run Pinot Grigio: 90/100

2007 Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli: 87/100

2008Dr. Konstantin Frank Cabernet Franc: 90/100

“To new friends, to old friend, to boyfriends, and girlfriends.” Clinking our glasses over steaming slices of lasagna, we all laughed in nervous anticipation of the evening to come. Lifting the first bite to my mouth, I stole a peek of everyones face. A first bite is like meeting someone for the first time, it’s either love or hate, and fortunately everyone’s faces said love.

Since I’m featuring such important wine this week, I wanted to make some food with some importance. So talking over dinner plans on Monday with my new co-workers and friends, Victoria and Lauren, I inquired about favorite foods. Once lasagna left Victoria’s mouth, the debate was over. Lauren and Victoria were to bring stuffed mushrooms for appetizers, I was going to make lasagna, and Michael, dessert.

Having 8 wines to choose from, the problem was not having too few wines, but rather, too many (but that’s not really a problem). Reading through the wine descriptions, I wanted to make sure to choose wines that would compliment the food perfectly.

Since Shelbey and Zack, my veggie friends, were coming for Project Runway Thursdays, I decided to make two lasagnas. A vegetarian lasagna I found on Recipe Zaar (http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegetarian-Lasagna-14684) in a red sauce, and a white lasagna in a prosciutto cream sauce with wild mushrooms (http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/porcini-and-prosciutto-lasagne) found on the Food & Wine website. Pairing well with red sauced pasta dishes, Dr. Frank’s 2008 Cabernet Franc, retailing for $19.99, was the perfect match for the veggie lasagna, and the 2008 Salmon Run Pinot Grigio, retailing for $9.99, lends itself to light cream based pasta dishes, like white lasagna. Can you get more perfect than that?

So the evening was set, all I had to do was cook, and let me tell you, there were a lot of steps. Making two completely different lasagna’s, requiring two different sets of prepped ingredients, and two different kinds of noodles, was a bit time consuming. But luckily for me, I had the whole day to prepare, and with Michael at work, it was just me and the stove.

Michael and I’s smoke detector has a mind of it’s own. Around 7 o’clock I decided to put the lasagnas into the oven. Since the vegetarian required 45 minutes at 350, and the white required 20 minutes at 425, my plan was to cook the veg for 20 minutes at 350 and then have both finish together at 425. But apparently when living in a one bedroom apartment there is enough carbon monoxide released from a 400+ degree oven to piss of the smoke detector. So you are probably thinking, why don’t you just take the battery out? Well it’s wired into the ceiling, so the most you can do is press the cancel button, putting it into stand by for two minutes before it starts yelling again. So the lasagnas finished cooking together at 375, with no screaming smoke detectors.

Running a little behind Victoria and Lauren arrived as the lasagnas were finishing, so we just ate everything together. So after the toast it was time to get down to some serious business—eating. Calling my name, I started with the Pinot Grigio and white lasagna. With a lively aroma of lemon lime with a hint of fresh cut grass, I swirled the wine and sniffed, and sniffed again. Coating my palate with a nice medium body, the Pinot Grigio had structure, and acidity comparable to a fresh granny smith apple. Biting into the white lasagna, my mouth was coated in rich cream and salty prosciutto, with an underlying earthiness from the mushrooms. Following the bite with another swig of wine, the marriage was warm and comforting, like a fleece blanket. Enhancing the delicate flavors of cream and mushroom, the lasagna rang with a renewed freshness, before being wiped clean from the acidity of the wine.

Next up, the mushrooms. Victoria was kind enough to modify her recipe to include a vegetarian option. Both mushrooms were covered in a remoulade sauce, one with crab and crab stuffing, the other with a potato stuffing. Having such a pronounced flavor like crab, I decided to pair the shrooms with the 2007 Dr. Frank Rkatsiteli, retailing for $17.99. Forewarned by a reader, Rkatsiteli is not your every day wine. Taking a whiff, I was met with a spicy yet fruity aroma. Coating my palate, the sides of my tongue went wild from acidity, while my palate rang with a fruit forward flavor. Biting into a mushroom, the crab and remoulade cut through the lingering acidity, while the oils mellowed out the tinny-ness of the wine. Taking another drink, the wine cleansed the palate, keeping the mushrooms fresh.

Completing the trifecta, I finished the meal with the vegetarian lasagna and Cabernet Franc. I have to be honest, I was a bit concerned when I first smelled this wine. As recommended, I let the wine breathe for a couple of hours before consumption, but didn’t wait to smell. Met with the fragrance of my grandmother’s prune cocktail, at first the wine wreaked of a mix between an old folks home and a spice cabinet, but after a couple of hours the profile completely changed. Developing more depth, the prune turned to plum, and the spices were warm and inviting. Showcasing subtle tannins and a structured medium body, the Franc coated my palate with a lingering finish. Followed with smooth ricotta, al dente zucchini, and a warm herbiness, the lasagna did not leave me missing meat. Sandwiching the bite, the wine brought out the complexity of the lasagna’s herbs, while creating a harmonious rich flavor.

As nine o’clock rolled around, the new season of Project Runway sounded form the T.V., Michael hit the kitchen to finish his Snow Ball Cupcakes, and the rest of us plopped in the living room. Transformed in a span of a couple of hours, we were no longer strangers, we were friends, brought together by food. Another Perfect Pair.