Wednesday, November 24, 2010

You be the Sommelier

BrooklynLady makes a mean lasagna. The two that she most often makes are spinach lasagna and sausage lasagna, and both are gobbled up very quickly in our house. Recently she made a new lasagna using fall ingredients, something that none of us had eaten before.

Pumpkin, goat cheese, and sage lasagna..delicious! She combined the pumpkin with fresh soft goat cheese and chopped sage and alternated layers with Béchamel. This is an extremely savory lasagna, rich with sweet pumpkin, slightly tangy from the goat cheese, and perfumed with sage. A large pan of this lasted all of two days, as the kids loved it too.

That's the dish. Please, you be the sommelier. What would you serve with this pumpkin, goat cheese, and sage lasagna?

And by the way, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

21 comments:

Sharon said...

Sounds fab.

I'd open a searing Savagnin from Ludwig Bindernagel, QV d'Etoiles – no oxidation, tight yet acidically gorgeous. That pairing would be the bomb.

Unknown said...

Is there a recipe she used?! I want to try this.

Jason A said...

Skin contact white, Italian of course.

AndrewR said...

'02 Carillon

michelecolline said...

A novello from groppello

Unknown said...

'96 P. Cotat Les Montes Damnees Sancerre Cuvee Speciale. Sauvignon for the goat cheese, rs for the pumpkin.

Of course, the lights are low and the prices high in our resto.

SFJ

Deetrane said...

I agree with the people who suggested whites. If going italian, i think northern chardonnay, friuli, soave, orvieto would all work. I'm also wondering if a medium to full-bodied red Italian, like a langhe Nebbiolo or barbera, or even a big, earthy brunello could go well to offset the savory, oily cheesiness and creamy pumpkin an béchamel. Of course, one could also dig deep and pop a 1962 Gaja Barbaresco.

A Bald Man Drinks... said...

2000 Ch d'Orschwihr Rangen Pinot Gris...we pour it at our Whole Foods wine bar, and it would be amazing with every element in your dish...

Florida Jim said...

What Jason said.

Cliff said...

This says Riesling to me, preferably with a little age: Boxler if you have any.

John McCarthy said...

Maybe a Petit Arvine from Les Crêtes or maybe a freaky Italian White wine made from Red grapes like the Chiavennasca from Conti Sertoli Salis?? Good question.

Nicola said...

LDH Viña Tondonia Rosé Gran Reserva

Do Bianchi said...

Not trying to be a party pooper here but...

There is only one wine in the world to pair with lasagne: Lambrusco.

Ideally (IMHO), Lambrusco di Sorbara.

For the folks who live where lasange originated, the thought of any other wine is blasphemous.

Anonymous said...

But, and with enormous respect, Do Bianchi, isn't the lasagna just the medium and the pumpkin and goat cheese the message?

FWIW, personally, I'd go with what Nicola said, or something orange from Bea.

Sean said...

Italy's clearly the obvious choice, but how did everyone miss the Rhone?

A Rhone white would be superb with this, something with sufficient acidity to cut that goat cheese but just a hint of sweetness to carry the pumpkin & sage.

I'm thinking Dom. de Marcoux Blanc, 2007 or if we're leaning into the Northern Rhone, Pierre Gonon, les Oliviers, 2006.

Joe Manekin said...

2009 Pascal Janvieres Jasnieres

2008 Monastero Suore Cistercensi "Coenobium" Lazio

2008 Bodegas Mendall "L'Abeurador" Terra Alta

ned said...

I back the previous suggestions of "orange". Followed by rosé, even certain sparkling rosés.

Brooklynguy said...

Man, such great suggestions. I love the idea of an orange wine, and i usually have a hard time thinking of what to eat with those. makes perfect sense here. Sean - I almost opened the Gonon 07 Les Oliviers, but I had just had one not too long ago, and didn't want to drink it again so soon. But that made sense to me too. Dr J - I never even thought of Lambrusco, but that will be one for the future. I imagine that for this dish you;re talking white Lambrusco, right?

We drank a 2007 Chidaine Montlouis Les Bournais and it was really good, actually. A bit, but not too much, residual sugar, good acidity, full in body, interesting herbal flavors. Perhaps strange, but it worked.

Do Bianchi said...

@anonymous I was being dogmatic for humor's sake. But Lambrusco would be my very first choice when lasagne are concerned. In Emilia, tortelloni are filled with pumpkin and Parmigiano Reggiano this time of year. Lambrusco is the pairing di rigore.

@BrooklynGuy Lambrusco di Sorbara is actually light in color although still technically red. Definitely red Lambrusco for this dish (traditional pairing), Sorbara or Salamino IMHO.

@Deetrane where did you get all those old bottlings of Nebbiolo?

Brooklynguy said...

I'm sorry, and Stephanie - BrooklynLady said that she used three different recipes for guidance, and then kind of made her own way. sorry i cannot give you anything more specific.

Wicker Parker said...

Hate to be counter-intuitive here (let alone late to the comment thread) but assuming the pumpkin is smoky as well as sweet, I'd love Clos Roche Blanche's Gamay with this dish; a Loire grolleau would be awesome, too. I love Nicola's suggestion for the LDH Viña Tondonia Rosé Gran Reserva. More conventionally, I'd consider a Grignolino d'Asti or a Chianti. Of course, if I can find a Lambrusco di Sorbara, I'll take Do Bianchi's advice and for *sure* make a lasagna.