Wine in the kitchen. The perfect complement to many dishes!
Wine is one of the best allies in anyone´s kitchen, especially if you love to cook. Today, we will share a delicious recipe from the Mediterranean area of Spain. It is a recipe from the Mediterranean diet, made by my Spanish grandmother. I have never tasted, even in the best restaurants, a lamb like the one she made.
I am originally from Aragón, an area in Spain where there are many lambs, considered the most nutritious red meat, rich in protein and full of vitamins and minerals.
That wonderful recipe of my grandmothers is lamb with white wine, a fairly simple dish to make, but it is a real culinary delight.
Lamb recipe with White Wine
The recipe is for four people, and for it, you will need:
- two pieces of lamb cut into pieces,
- a few bay leaves,
- a few sprigs of thyme (you can also use rosemary) tied so as not to break in the stew,
- olive oil,
- salt pepper,
- half a glass of water,
- a glass of white wine.
- an Onion
First, place the olive oil in a cast iron pot. If you do not have this type of pan, you can use another container with a thick bottom. Be careful with the oil, do not put too much because it can give it a very oily texture.
Then add the whole bay leaves and the tied thyme. Then, in that hot oil, sauté the pieces of lamb, on which you have previously added salt and pepper, and when they are browned on both sides, remove them from the heat, and in the same pot, caramelize the onions, which will give our dish an extremely interesting flavour.
The next step is to add half a glass of water and a glass of white wine. The glass should be two hundred centilitres, the same one we use to drink water. Don't be afraid to put too much wine, because the lamb will absorb it.
Then leave the pot covered over low heat for an hour. We will see that the wine will be reduced, so you will have to move the pieces of lamb so that the sauce penetrates evenly on all sides. To check what stage the meat is in, you can prick it until you notice that it is soft. At that point, you can turn off the heat and keep the pot covered until serving.
Do you see how curious it is that we will serve a meat dish made with white wine, instead of red wine?
Normally, for red meat, the most suitable wine to pair is red wine, preferably full-bodied and full-bodied wines. For this dish, we suggest the following wines:
L'Intrús de Roig Parals is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which, due to its structure and ageing in barrels for thirteen months, it is the ideal wine for sauce dishes. The spicy and fried notes of the wood harmonize perfectly with the mountain taste acquired by the meat, and with the sweet notes of the onion.
Another interesting combination for our lamb recipe is Pago de Los abuelos Mencía , a monovarietal from centuries-old vineyards from Spain D.O Bierzo that, due to its fleshy body and texture, combines fabulously with our preparation, and gives us a soft and savory taste.
If you prefer Rioja wines, our Muga Crianza wine is the fantastic accompaniment to a lamb dish, a wine that reflects the whole character of its variety, tempranillo grapes, with its strong acidity and that tension on the palate that make it a dynamic wine, in -a delicious combination.
If you prefer to drink a very cold wine, we recommend a rose wine for this dish.
I suggests that you try Vella Lola rosé, that for sure you will love it. Made from the Grenache grape variety, it is a wine with a perfect balance between acidity and alcohol, a gastronomic wine but easy to drink, which can accompany from light to the most robust dishes such as the one in our recipe.
The other rosé wine that you should try with sauce or red meat dishes is Arrayán rosé from D.O Méntrida , a blend of syrah, merlot and hairy Garnacha, greasy and captivating, but with a sensational freshness.
For the key element of this dish, wine, take a look at the different options in our store.
You will discover all the wines mentioned here and many other assortments!
Once again, we thank our good friend Isabel Zaro (UdG University sommelier) for all the information and for the delicious recipe she shared with us today.
See you soon, wine lovers,
Dis & Dis team