Recipe & Pairing | Paola Bacchia's (Adriatico) Spaghetti Montepulciano

Paola Bacchia’s "Adriatico" (available now!) is a food journey along Italy's Adriatic coast to discover authentic dishes off the tourist trail. And talk about authentic - this dish even specifies what to pair in the name, job done. Though naturally we’ve got a few other perfect picks too.

Pairing tip: "A sausage pasta is an absolute go-to midweek option for me, but I won’t pretend I’m out here making my own spaghetti on a Wednesday night after the gym. If you’re going the full monty with this and following the recipe letter for letter by adding Montepulciano to the pasta dough, I’d probably stick with a red. Your nebbiolo, barbera, sangiovese (or the rest of that bottle of Monte) will all be bellissimo. Otherwise if it’s store bought spaghetti, I’m going further north and cracking a riesling from Alsace, and if it’s off-dry, all the better - you can’t beat that sweet/salty/acid/fat combo." - Nick

Try this with:

Lornano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021

Italian red drinkers assemble - this one is for you. With 98 points and an “Outstanding” from James Suckling under its label, this sangiovese is a drop for the purists - it’s all blackberry, mocha and a deep, delicious body.

Sophie Schaal Alsace AOP Riesling 2023

Laser sharp with an expression of fresh lime, lemon curd, green apple, slate and orange blossom. Refreshing, bracing and complete, the perfect example of the style.

SPAGHETTI MONTEPULCIANO MACCHERONI ALLA CHITARRA AL MONTEPULCIANO

SERVES 4 AS A FIRST COURSE OR 2 AS A MAIN

"I had heard about this famed dish long before I visited L’Antico Feudo Agriturismo di Bracciale in Ortona, Abruzzo, and tried it for myself. The handmade pasta is laced with Montepulciano wine made from grapes grown on the property. The sauce was so tasty and I remember us all mopping it up from the central platter with chunks of bread. You can make your own pasta, as in the recipe here, or substitute store-bought thicker spaghetti if you are running short of time."

Pasta

• 300 g (10½ oz) superfine semolina (semola rimacinata), plus extra for dusting

• 2 eggs

• 3 tablespoons Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine (or your favourite red wine)

Sauce

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 1 small white onion, finely diced

• 2 celery stalks and leaves, finely diced

• 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

• 400 g (14 oz) good-quality pork sausages, casings removed, meat broken into small pieces

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped flat-leaf parsley and finely grated parmesan, to serve

To make the pasta dough, follow the instructions on page 14 for making egg pasta, drizzling in the wine as you combine the semolina and eggs and adjusting with water and/or semolina if needed to obtain the right consistency. Cover and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20–25 minutes, until the vegetables are starting to soften. Add the sausage meat and stir well, then increase the heat to medium–low and cook for about 20 minutes, until the sausage pieces are cooked through and have released their liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce is cooking, make the pasta. Cut the dough into thirds. Working with one portion at a time, roll it out on a surface that has been lightly dusted with superfine semolina. You can use a pasta machine or rolling pin to roll it to a 3 mm (⅛ in) thickness. Place the rectangle of dough on the narrower strings of the chitarra and, using a rolling pin, press on the dough so that the metal strings cut it into strips. Dust the prepared pasta with superfine semolina and cover with a clean tea towel to prevent it from drying out. Repeat with the remaining dough. If you don’t have a chitarra, dust the pasta with superfine semolina, then loosely roll it up and cut it into 3 mm (⅛ in) wide strips with a knife.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente (the cooking time will vary, depending on the thickness of the pasta). Drain, reserving a little of the pasta water in a cup. Toss the pasta through the sauce, either in the saucepan you cooked the pasta in or in a bowl, adding some of the reserved cooking water if it looks a bit dry.

Pile onto a serving platter and scatter with parsley and plenty of grated parmesan to serve.

Recipe & images taken from Adriatico by Paola Bacchia, published by Smith Street Books (RRP $55).