Homemade Italian Dinner

My parents with the Italian dinner we made

 On Sunday March 9th, 2014, my parents and I made a food and wine pairing with Italian wines and foods. I chose an Italian theme because in May, my family and I will be traveling to Italy for vacation, part of which will be spent wine tasting in Tuscany. I thought this was a perfect experiment to try and see how some Italian wines paired up with Italian dishes. 

We had three fairly simple traditional Italian dishes. The first was Bruschetta for an appetizer. We followed this simple recipe to make the Bruschetta. Bruschetta Recipe

Tomatoes, Basil, Olive Oil, Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar to create the topping

 The topping was fairly simple to create and only used 5 ingredients. Once the the ingredients were combined, the salt and pepper were added to give extra flavoring.

Finished Bruschetta topping

After the topping was prepared, we chilled it in the fridge while we prepared the bread. A baguette was sliced and olive oil was brushed on the top to help the toasting process.

Brushing the baguette with olive oil

Oil brushed onto the baguette

 Once the bread was toasted, the Bruschetta topping was placed on top and was ready to eat!

Finished Bruschetta

The next dish prepared was an entree of Chicken Parmesan. The chicken was first lightly breaded then pan fried to cook.

Chicken with breading before cooking

Chicken after cooking

Once all the chicken was cooked, the tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese was used to cover the chicken before going into the oven.

Chicken Parmesan before going into the oven

Chicken Parmesan after baking

Once the chicken was cooked and the pasta prepared, our second dish was done!

Main dish: Chicken Parmesan

Finally dinner was finished with a Tiramisu that was refrigerated until after dinner.

Tiramisu!

The three wines chosen were a Pinot Grigio, Chianti and a Moscato D'Asti. While the Pinot Grigio was chosen for the Bruschetta, the Chianti for the Chicken Parmesan and the Moscato for the Tiramisu, each wine was tried with each dish.

The two dishes minus the Tiramisu

Following are my notes on each wine itself as well as how it compared with each dish.

Name: Ecco Domani
Variety: 100% Pinot Grigio
Region: Venezie
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $7.95

Winery Review: This wine has a clear, straw yellow color, with light golden reflections. It has tropical fruit notes that make this unique vintage truly exotic, with apple and pineapple aromas and flavors. The wine is light bodied, with a pleasantly soft palate and a long finish.

Alone: This wine had nice peach and floral aromas but with some acidity. After tasting, there were light fruit flavors though the wine was a bit thin and had a slightly acidic finish.

Bruschetta: The bruschetta made this wine more bitter with a stronger acidic bite but it helped give the wine more body. It wasn't the best pairing but not bad.

Chicken Parmesan: With the chicken parmesan, once again the acidity was brought out and the fruit flavors muted. I think the sauce overpowered the wine and was not a great pairing.

Tiramisu: Again this wine was overpowered by the Tiramisu since the dessert was so sweet. However, it did reduce the acidity of the wine and made the finish smoother. This was not a bad pairing.

Name: Nipozzano Chianti Rufina
Variety: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot
Region: Tuscany
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: $17.95

Winery Review: Very juicy, modern Chianti with bright cherry and blackberry fruit. A well made Chianti with polished tannins and wonderful balance.

Alone: The aroma was somewhat smoky, oaky and slightly jammy. After tasting, there were some fruit flavors with a light tannic finish. The wine was well balanced and overall not a bad red wine.

Bruschetta: The bruschetta did not change the way this wine tasted. It seems that the food and wine balanced each other and did not change either one so not a bad pairing.

Chicken Parmesan: With the Chicken Parmesan, the jammy flavors present in the wine alone were gone and a more tannic structure was present in the mid palate. It paired better than the Pinot Grigio since it was a more full bodied wine and was not overpowered by the sauce. Overall, a pretty good pairing.

Tiramisu: With the Tiramisu, the tannins were smoothed out and the wine was very smooth. The coffee flavors of the Tiramisu brought out the oak and woody flavors of the wine but still maintained a nice balance. Overall, this was not a bad pairing with the Tiramisu.

Name: Risata Moscato d'Asti
Variety: 100% Moscato
Region: Piedmont
Country: Italy
Year: N/A
Price: $11.00

Winery Review: This Moscato d'Asti is fresh, fragrant, and frizzante with vibrant flavors and aromas of ripe stone fruit, tangerines and honey. The wine is concentrated and flavorful but not overly rich or heavy; sweet, yet balanced.

Alone: This wine had a very sweet tropical fruit and sugary aroma. After tasting, some mango flavors along with the sugary carbonation were present. A nice light dessert wine.

Bruschetta: With the bruschetta, the moscato had a slight bitter finish though overall was still sweet and sugary. This could have been due to the acidity in the tomatoes. While not the best pairing, it was not the worst.

Chicken Parmesan: Tasting this wine with the Chicken Parmesan, the sweetness of the wine was cut back which gave it better balance. It was still sweet and carbonated but it paired quite well with the chicken.

Tiramisu: Finally, the Tiramisu also cut the sweetness down on the wine as well as lowered the carbonation. There was a nice balance between the fruity flavors of the Moscato and the coffee flavors of the Tiramisu. These two probably paired the best of all the wine and food combinations.