Wine and food pairings 20: Gnocchi and cherry tomato salad
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
The Wine Curmudgeon pairs wine with some of his favorite recipes in this occasional feature. This edition: three wines with a gnocchi and cherry tomato salad that really isn’t a salad.
One of things I discovered this summer, since it was mostly too hot — even with air conditioning — to do any actual cooking, was the versatility of cherry tomatoes. You can use them in traditional salads, of course, but I must have tried a half dozen different recipes where they were combined with some less than traditional ingredients (including chickpeas and angel hair) in dishes that involved minimal cooking.
My favorite was the gnocchi and cherry tomato salad, which really isn’t a salad — more like gnocchi with a raw tomato sauce. But the New York Times recipe I adapted calls it a salad, so why not?
The goal here is to prepare the gnocchi (the kind that comes in a shelf stable package) in a skillet with olive oil and a little water, which cooks the inside but leaves the outside sort of crispy. Then, add sliced cherry tomatoes, grated Italian-style cheese, olive oil, whatever herbs are around, and mix. Talk about the Mediterranean diet.
Click here to download or print a copy of the recipe. The wines to pair with this are an intriguing mix:
• Biscaye Baie Côtes de Gascogne 2022 ($10, purchased, 12%): French white made with sauvignon blanc is just the thing for a Tuesday night dinner in the middle of a too hot summer. Some citrus (more lemongrass than anything else), plus a bit of stoniness. Imported by Aquitane Wine USA
• Lavendette Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12.5%): Top-notch Provencal rose at a bargain basement price. A hint of garrigue, strawberry fruit, clean and minerally. Imported by Monsieur Touton Selection
• Weingut Berger Grüner Veltliner 2021 ($12/1-liter, purchased, 12.5%): One-note Austrian gruner, but one that is well made and offers value. Lots of citrus, some minerality. Imported by Skurnik Wines
Blog associate editor Churro contributed to this post.
More about wine and food pairings:
• Wine and food pairings 19: Couscous salad Nicoise
• Wine and food pairings 18: Everyday split pea soup
• Wine and food pairings 17: Pan Bagna
Slider photo: “Rome Elite Event: wine, food and nice people” by Yelp.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0