Red wine spaghetti

In which the pasta is actually cooked in wine!

This was one of my favourite - and most surprising - recipes from my book Wine lover's kitchen. It might sound bizarre cooking pasta IN wine but it’s really delicious - and hugely useful given you can rustle it up from storecupboard ingredients.

As you’ll see it’s dairy-free and you could even make it vegetarian and vegan by replacing the anchovies with a couple of tablespoons of capers.

Serves 2–3

500 ml/18 fl oz full-bodied fruity red wine

250g/9oz wholewheat spaghetti

50g/2oz can of anchovies

1–2 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

70g/2.5 oz pitted olives with herbs

1/2 tsp pul biber/Turkish red pepper or other chilli flakes

3 tbsp passata

25g/1 cup freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

sea salt

Measure 400 ml/14 fl oz of the red wine into a saucepan and add 500ml/18 fl oz water. Bring to the boil, add a teaspoon of salt and partially cook the spaghetti for about 7–8 minutes. Drain, reserving half a cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile drain the can of anchovies, reserving the oil. Add the oil from the anchovies plus enough additional olive oil to make 3 tablespoons in total, pour into a frying pan/skillet and fry the garlic slices over a very low heat.

Chop the anchovies and halve the olives. Add the chilli/red pepper flakes to the garlic, stir in the passata and tip in the reserved pasta cooking water and the rest of the wine. Bring to the boil, add the anchovies and olives and simmer for a few minutes.

Tip the partially cooked spaghetti into the sauce and leave over a low to medium heat until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add about three-quarters of the chopped parsley to the pasta and toss well.

Serve in warm bowls with the remaining parsley sprinkled on top.

What to drink

The same wine you use to make the dish or a hearty Sicilian red like a Nero d’Avola.

Image © Mowie Kay