Italian spinach and ricotta pie with Soave (or Vermentino)

To tell you the truth this is as much about the story behind the pie as the wine match but that was good too so let’s kick off with that.

The pie was a Torta Pasqualina a traditional Easter pie from Liguria which is filled with ricotta, spinach and whole eggs. As often these days it was a question of trying to find the most suitable match which turned out to be a rather elderly 2015 Bertani Soave which had seen better days but which still had enough character to show off the pie rather nicely.

Vermentino which is local to the region (as you can see from this article) would have been better still but I didn’t have any. Gavi di Gavi or any of those interesting neutral Italian whites, preferably from a more recent vintage, would have done too. As would a glass of Franciacorta.

What was particularly nice about the construction of this pie was that a group of us made it together on Zoom from this recipe by Rachel Roddy. We’d collaborated on the sourcing of the ingredients getting our spinach from a local greengrocer (Hugo’s in Bedminster, Bristol) who also supplied the locally made ricotta from Westcombe Dairy. And it fortunately didn’t require too much flour.

We cooked together, companionably chatting and comparing notes for about an hour then broke off to clear up while the pies were cooking and reconvened (with Rachel, who is a colleague on the Guardian) to have a drink an hour later. A nice thing to do with friends who like to cook - whether you have Soave or not!

Thai green curry and English rosé

Those of you who follow the site closely might have noticed the Match of the Week slot had disappeared. Because I was no longer travelling and eating out I thought what I was drinking with what would be of little interest and that you probably wouldn’t be able to get hold of the bottles I was writing about anyway

How wrong I was!

In fact the limitation of choice has actually sparked a burst of creativity among you all judging by what I’ve seen on Twitter and our own Matching Food and Wine Facebook group* too. And people are digging out many of their most treasured bottles to enjoy with food to match - a tactic for dealing with the lockdown of which I heartily approve

So this week’s pairing is one of those rare partnerships when the wine and the food both rise to greater heights. The dish was a Thai green prawn curry I made with one of the cook-in sauces I’d been sent to try by The Fresh Sauce Co about whom you can read in our 5 reasons slot and the wine an English pinot noir rosé I’d been tasting from Dunleavy vineyards.

Now rosé, I know, is pretty good at handling spice (I also like it with Indian food) but this was a) very dry and b) only 11.5%, too light you would think to stand up to a really punchy green curry sauce. But it not only survived but blossomed, the curry miraculously accentuating its very pretty fruit.

So on the basis of this I’m reckoning most Provence rosés would go with a Thai green curry too but if you want to support English producers you can buy Dunleavy’s rosé for £12.95 with free delivery if you buy 6 or more bottles.

* do join and share what you’re eating and drinking

For other rosé pairings check out The Best Food Pairings for rosé

Image ©iblinova on Adobe Stock cos my late night shot really was tooo dark and blurry and I'd chucked inauthentic broccoli and peas into my curry!

Miso-glazed cabbage and orange wine

The way things are looking I don’t imagine there will be many standout matches of the week over the forthcoming months given that I’m out and about much less than normal. But this one, from Trivet in Bermondsey last week is truly excellent.

I went there for a (very) late lunch after a nearby tasting and sat at the bar where they do an all day menu that’s really quite serious. Proper food not just snacks of which one dish was this incredibly clever miso-glazed cabbage on skewers, cut to look like a kebab. It really was insanely delicious - sweet, savoury, deeply umami - and went perfectly with a gorgeously aromatic glass of Greek orange wine - the 2016 Domaine Tatsis Malagouzia. (There were also some very good grilled chicken wings alongside with which it also rubbed along happily.)

Trivet is run by two Heston Blumenthal alumni, chef Jonny Lake and sommelier Isa Bal who worked together at Fat Duck. While we can still get to restaurants in London I really suggest you go there - the wine list is also amazing. It’s at 36 Snowsfields, just near London Bridge.

Beetroot and goat cheese macarons with a pet nat rosé

In a week of pretty amazing wine pairings (it’s not every day you get to taste five different vintages of Harlan Estate* over dinner) there was one really interesting match I wouldn’t have predicted - and that’s what this weekly slot is all about.

It was at a new(ish) restaurant called Osip in Bruton I’ll be writing about shortly and was with one of the initial snacks of the set price menu: beetroot and goat cheese macarons. Not having a particularly sweet tooth I’m not generally big fan of macarons but these were satisfyingly savoury with a really good beetroot flavour which chimed in perfectly with the Les Quatre Pétillant rosé brut nature we’d ordered as an aperitif.

Although it’s made from southern grapes - grenache, syrah and carignan - it’s produced in the Loire and is available from Uncharted Wines for £18.89. I particularly like the explanation on the label: “The Les Quatre philosophy is to make the best wines possible with a style they like to call ‘Paris Wine Bar’. We take that to mean totally drinkable, accessible and fun, all whilst being brilliantly made.”

That’s totally true.

See also The best wines to pair with beetroot

* It only didn't make Match of the Week because it was paired, fairly conventionally with a fillet steak!