Drunken Spaghetti Red Wine Pasta (spaghetti all'ubriaco)

5 from 47 votes

Drunken Spaghetti Red Wine Pasta (spaghetti all'ubriaco)

This simple but elegant red wine pasta recipe is a fabulous choice for special occasions like Valentine’s or Christmas! Drunken spaghetti involves cooking the pasta in red wine almost like a risotto. This dish actually doesn’t have a high alcohol content as cooking burns off most the alcohol. The result is plum coloured noodles with a slightly sweet and spicy wine flavour!

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Course: Main Course, Side Dish, starter

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword: drunken spaghetti, red wine pasta, spaghetti all'ubriaco

Servings:

Calories: 566kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

1 bottle medium to full bodied red wine Merlot, Chianti, Valpolicella Ripasso, Sangiovese etc
13 oz spaghetti I used spaghetti alla chitarra by Ligouri
2 garlic cloves peeled and halved
1 handful fresh parsley washed and chopped
1 fresh or dried peperoncino (red chili pepper) cut into small pieces
Pecorino cheese or vegetarian cheese. for grating
salt for pasta and to taste
freshly ground black pepper. to taste
2-3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.

Instructions

Preparation steps

Pour the wine minus half a glass (2.5floz) into a saucepan, bring it to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes. Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to a boil again.
Wash and chop a handful of parsley. Peel and halve 2 garlic cloves and cut the fresh or dried peperoncino into small pieces. Remove the seeds for less heat. Make sure you wash your hands after handling the chili.

Cook your drunken spaghetti

Sauté the garlic, ½ the parsley and the peperoncino in a large deep frying pan or skillet in extra virgin olive oil.
Cook the spaghetti for just over half the recommended cooking time. Save a little pasta cooking water, Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet.
Gradually add the wine to the spaghetti one ladle at a time, stirring continuously until the spaghetti is a deep red colour and al dente. If you run out of hot wine before the pasta is cooked, use the saved pasta cooking water. Remove from the heat and mix in the uncooked wine you set aside.
Serve immediately with more chopped parsley and some grated Pecorino or vegetarian cheese. I used slivers of Pecorino.

Notes

Without cheese, this drunken spaghetti is vegan. I added slivers of pecorino cheese which isn’t vegetarian as it contains animal rennet. So, to make this recipe vegetarian use a vegetarian parmesan or hard cheese.

It's best to use bronze drawn pasta. This has a rougher surface and is more absorbent than other pasta. It also releases more starch which is exactly what you need when cooking pasta like risotto.

All recipes for drunken spaghetti call for a medium to full bodied red wine. Good wines to use are Merlot, Chianti, Sangiovese or Nero d'Avola. I used Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore.

Nutrition