Dinner - Homemade Italian

The end of the semester seems to be sneaking up on me pretty quickly and of course, it's come to hit me that in less than two months, I'll be graduating along with one of my best friends Troy. He'll be heading to South Carolina and I'll be heading to California, so it's safe to say that we won't get to be hanging out as much. With that being said, I thought it would nice to get together and have an Italian style dinner with wine. After all, his last name is Manzitti. For our dinner, the main entree was whole wheat spaghetti with chicken parmesan. For dessert we made an almond-chocolate torte. We also had a side of green beans with our entree, but for the purpose of the wine-pairing, they were not used.

Troy trying to be "suave" for the picture.

For making our dinner, the first thing we had to do was make the pasta which is simple enough, but sometimes I overcook it. No one likes mushy spaghetti noodles, so Troy helped me out with this and it turned out perfect!

Perfectly al dente spaghetti noodles cooked and drained.

While Troy was focusing on the pasta, I was preparing the chicken breasts for the Chicken Parmesan. This meant dipping the breasts in eggwhites, seasoning them with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and then breading them. I used the Italian Style Progresso bread crumbs. After the chicken was breaded, I popped them into the oven to bake for about twenty minutes. The recipe I used was of course, found on Pinterest! Here's the link in case you want to make it yourself:  http://www.fitmomangelad.com/21-day-fix-chicken-parmesan/ 

The chicken breasts breaded and ready to bake!

After twenty minutes had gone by, it was time to pull out the chicken, turn them over and then add the sauce and cheese. I used Prego Traditional Italian sauce and a handful of mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Wow that cheese looks amazing. The chicken breasts were fresh from the oven!

Now all the while the chicken was in the oven, Troy and I were working on making our chocolate torte, which (by the way) was flourless. The recipe we used can be found on the Food Network website here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/flourless-chocolate-torte-recipe.html?ic1=obinsite . To put an Italian spin on this dessert, we simply just added some almond extract. This is an essential in any Italian dessert.

The chocolate torte batter just before baking

After we put the torte batter, it was time to wait for about 40 minutes for it to bake. Of course, it wasn't complete without a powdered sugar topping. 

The complete chocolate-almond torte dessert.

While we waited for the torte to bake, we then started to prepare our main course.

Troy starting to plate our dinner.

Check out those plating skills.

For the wines that were chosen, I tried to make selections that were recommended for chicken dishes, dishes that included a hearty Italian sauce, or chocolate. My final choices follow accompanied by my tasting notes. Now we were in business for starting dinner.

Name: Sutter Home White Zinfandel

Variety: White Zinfandel
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: Non Vintage
Price:  $7.00

Alone: The color of this wine was a pleasant light pink. It had aromas of strawberries and melon. I also thought there was a sweetness of vanilla. The wine had very low acidity was just a touch of sweet. The finish was very quick and left a crisp feeling on the palate.

With Spaghetti: With the spaghetti, I felt the wine became more acidic on the mid palate and lost some of its sweetness. The finish also became slightly longer with the strawberry and red fruit flavor becoming more pronounced.

With Chicken Parmesan: When had with the chicken, I felt the acidity was about the same. Again, I felt that the flavors of fruit were much stronger than when I just drank this by itself. The finish however, was by far the longest in comparison with the spaghetti and torte.

With Torte: For the torte, I was actually somewhat surprised on how much sweeter it made this wine seem. I will add that the torte was made with a semi-dark chocolate so it was just slightly bitter. Which I think was responsible for bringing out even more sweetness in the wine. I really like the combination of the torte and this wine. Especially because I thought I could taste more a strawberries and cream flavor.

Name: Barefoot Merlot

Variety: Merlot
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: Non-Vintage
Price: $7.00

Alone: This wine a deep violet color. On the nose, I could smell black cherries, plum, and black jams. There was also a bitter smell that kind of reminded me of the Gihardelli Dark Chocolate. With tasting, I felt my palate become coated with tannin, but it seemed to have a light body. I also was able to get some black pepper or smokiness come through.

With Spaghetti: In tasting this with the spaghetti and tomato sauce, just like with the White Zinfandel, the acid was much more pronounced and the mouthfeel had a sharper feel. I was able to taste the cherries  much more with the pasta and tomato sauce.

With Chicken Parmesan: Now, if possible, when tasting this with the chicken, I felt the wine become even more acidic! I did not enjoy that at all, especially because the finish also became much longer, lasting about thirty seconds.  I also thought that because the acidity cut through very quickly, the mid palate got sort of lost and there was hardly any transition to the flavors of the finish.

With Torte: With the chocolate torte, I was relieved to find that the acidity was immediately cut. I thought I could taste what was close to an espresso or maybe black coffee flavor. On the finish, I got some notes of black jam.

Name: Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir

Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Central Valley
Country: Chile
Year: 2014
Price: $9.00

Alone: The color of this wine was deep red color. The bouquet was full of aromas of raspberries, cherries, as well as strawberries. I thought it had a slightly woody taste and the acid came through clean and focused on the mid-palate. I really enjoyed the tannins on this wine since they were the perfect balance for me.


With Spaghetti: With the spaghetti, I thought the mouthfeel was increased and the wine became a little more velvety. However, I still thought the balance was well-rounded. The pasta did not make the feel of the wine overpowering like it did for the previous two.

With Chicken Parmesan: Tasting this wine with the Chicken Parmesan made the finish quite strong for this wine. I would definitely compare the acidity of the wine coming through like a laser on the mid-palate with a strong cherry flavor at the start. I really enjoyed the pairing of the chicken with this wine! I think it was the best one of the night.

With Torte: The torte did not seem to do much extra to this wine when tasted together. The wine felt slightly more acidic that when I had tasted it by itself and I did feel a little more heat from the alcohol coming through. I think this again could be traced back to the slightly bitter taste of the torte.