How To: Make Gorgeous Drunken Pasta with This Key Ingredient

It's hard to argue with the notion that wine and pasta are a winning combination. I mean, millions of Italians can't be wrong.

But this classic combo can be taken one step further to become the ultimate comfort food dish—by turning that wine into an actual pasta sauce. Best of all, your wine-soaked noodles will turn a romantic burgundy hue that will spice up any weekday meal.

The Origins of Red Wine Spaghetti

Red wine spaghetti may seem like it just recently went viral when New York City pastry chef Gina DePalma's recipe was featured on Food & Wine. The truth is, red wine spaghetti is actually a well-known Italian dish that is lovingly referred to as Spaghetti All'ubriaco or "Drunken Pasta."

A Note About Red Wines

Most good quality, dry red wines will work well in this recipe to create a rich and slightly fruity taste. I used Malbec, which had a nice subtle, tart flavor and was complemented well by a dash of Parmesan.

Other types of reds that are popular for this dish are Cabernet, Chianti, or Zinfandel. The bottom line is that you should feel free to experiment with your favorite bottle of red, since deliciously beautiful results are almost always guaranteed.

Acidic Foods & Reactive Cookware

It's important when cooking with acidic ingredients like red wine to use non-reactive cookware like ceramic or stainless steel, because they will not change the chemical structure, i.e., taste, of the food. Reactive cookware like iron, aluminum, copper, and steel is not ideal because it reacts with acidic foods and can leave a metallic taste. There's nothing like a little metal flavoring to ruin a dish.

Red Wine Spaghetti Ingredients

• 5 cups water
• 3¼ cups dry red wine
• salt
• ¾ lb. spaghetti
• ¼ cups extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced

How to Make Your Red Wine Spaghetti

1. Combine the water, 3 cups of wine, and a pinch of salt in a pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Place spaghetti in the pot and cook until it's al dente. Set ¼ cup of the water/wine mixture aside.

3. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, then fry the sliced garlic for around a minute.
4. Pour the ¼ cup of water/wine mixture into the saucepan along with the remaining ¼ cup of wine. Bring to a simmer.

5. Cook the pasta until the liquid is mostly absorbed into it (around 2 minutes).

Ideal Add-Ins

To complement the rich flavor of this dish, the following add-ins (along with the standard salt and freshly ground pepper) are highly recommended to elevate your meal even further:

• red pepper, crushed
• parsley, finely chopped
• walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
• Parmesan cheese, grated

Now it's time to grab your favorite bottle of red wine, a package of spaghetti, and get cooking! This pasta is a wine lovers dream and goes nicely with—you guessed it—red wine.

Let us know how your wine-centric meal turned out in the comments section below!

• Follow Food Hacks Daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
• Follow WonderHowTo on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+

More Pasta Hacks

• No Boil vs. Traditional Pasta: Should You Make the Switch?
• Inject Tons of Flavor into Boring Dried Pasta by Toasting It
• Save Time & Make Homemade Pasta with a Food Processor