Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta and Donnachiara Wines

Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta is an easy vegetarian recipe full of light spring flavor. Delicious with a white wine from Donnachiara, making this a good time to share more about the Italian winemaker from Irpinia. Disclosure: Some of the wines discussed here were provided as complimentary samples from the winemaker.

This past fall, we had a chance to do a live Twitter tasting with Donnachiara Wines, from the Campania region of Italy.

For the Twitter tasting, we opened a bottle of white and a red from Donnachiara on a beautiful late Friday October afternoon.

We didn’t have much cooking planned for the end of that busy week; with some leftover Mushroom Mac and Cheese Casserole ready for dinner.

After enjoying the Donnachiara Falanghina and the Aglianico, I was eager to pick up more of their wine to do a proper pairing.

As way leads on to way, I just recently circled back to do a pairing with a Donnachiara wine. The little snow we had this winter has come and gone, and I was thinking of a fresh spring meal to go with a bottle of Donnachiara Greco di Tufo. Enter our Asparagus with Goat Cheese Pasta.

Bow tie pasta tossed with asparagus and goat cheese, and a squeeze of lemon, is a simple vegetarianmeal full of spring flavor.

Making Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta

Asparagus is one of those vegetables I only get in season. Granted, there isn’t local asparagus here yet, but around now I will get in spring mode by picking some asparagus that comes from a warmer climate.

I put this Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta together because I already had some asparagus and goat cheese on hand, from making some prosciutto wrapped asparagus for a gathering recently. Some tips for making our Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta:

• Break a couple of stalks of asparagus. Discard the thicker woody portion opposite the tip end. Cut the rest of the asparagus stalks in similar proportion to the initial stalks that you do by hand.
• The asparagus only needs a few minutes to steam; avoid overcooking. If you have a vegetable steamer, that is preferable. But you can also just place the asparagus in 2 inches of boiling water to briefly cook the asparagus.
• Rinse the asparagus in cold water after steaming, and drain well. This will prevent it from cooking further while the pasta finishes.
• Toss the pasta immediately with the goat cheese and lemon, followed by the asparagus.

Wine for Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta

The strong vegetal flavor of asparagus can make it a tricky pairing with wine, as this Food & Wine article explains. While asparagus alone is especially problematic for pairing, tossing asparagus with wine friendly cheese creates an opening for some good pairings. This dish also has lemon, suggesting we need a wine with some bright fruit notes.

Of course, I was starting with a wine in hand that I thought might go well with our Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta.

The 2017 Donnachiara Greco di Tufo ($16, 13% ABV) has a lemony nose, which bodes well for the pairing with this dish. On the palate, I get pear and a bit of grapefruit, showing some acidity. There’s also nice underlying minerality.

The crisp white Greco di Tufo from Donnachiara definitely works nicely with the pasta. Both the dish and the wine have a vibrant freshness that makes it a perfect spring pairing!

More about Donanachiara Wines

Donnachiara, founded in 2005, is located in Avellino, which is in the Irpinia DOC. They make the three Irpinia DOCG wines–Fiano di Avellino, Taurasi and Greco di Tufo–as well Aglianico and Falanghina.

I learned on our Twitter chat that Irpinia is named for the local wolves in the area. It is mountainous and cool but with enough sunlight to ripen the grapes well.

Donnachiara is almost entirely female led. CEO Ilaria Pettito was in New York for an event; our Twitter tasting coincided with her visit. Ilaria is supported the this role by her mother Chiara, the niece of Donna Chiara Mazzarelli Petitto, for whom this company is dedicated.

We tasted two Donnachiara wines provided by winery during our Twitter chat:

Beneventano Falanghina Such freshness on the nose! Crisp citrus fruit with a bit a creaminess and almond on the finish. I nibbled on some Parmigiano cheese as we tasted this wine, and the combination was excellent. You could possibly try this Falanghina with the Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta recipe, too.

Donnachiara Campania Aglianico is rustic on the nose, but smooth and fruit forward on the palate. I detected a bit of volcanic soil notes while tasting, and had that impression confirmed that there is volcanic soil in the Irpinia region. The 2015 version of this Aglianico wine landed at #71 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines list, impressive for a bottle coming in at around $20! This Aglianico was good with the Parmigiano, and also went nicely with our leftover Mushroom Mac and Cheese Casserole

Parting thoughts on Donnachiara Wines

The wines I have sampled from Donnachiara all provide excellent quality for the price. The two whites wines would certainly make excellent choices for a spring meal, or sipping out on the deck when it gets warm enough! The Aglianico is a nice option for a variety of hearty fare such as lamb, casseroles and pizza.

Glad to have had the opportunity to get to know Donnachiara wines!

Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta

★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

Bow tie pasta tossed with asparagus, lemon and goat cheese for an easy spring meal.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Yield: 5 servings 1x
• Category: main
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends trimmed off, remaining asparagus cut in half
• 12 ozs bow tie pasta (farfalle)
• 1 tbps extra virgin olive oil
• juice from ½ of a lemon — approximately 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 ozs goat cheese
• ½ tsp dried tarragon or 1 tsp fresh tarragon
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese for passing at the table

Instructions

1. Begin boiling water for pasta.
2. Place 2 inches of water in a 2nd large pot and bring to a boil. Add the asparagus, and steam until just tender about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the asparagus, and rinse with cold water to prevent from cooking more. Drain again and set aside.
3. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water, and drain the pasta when it is done to your liking.
4. Drain the cooked pasta, and toss immediately with the reserved pasta water, olive oil and goat cheese. Stir in the asparagus, tarragon and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Plate the pasta, and enjoy! This recipe is good with a crisp Italian white wine such as the Donnachiara Greco di Tufo.

Notes

• Break a couple of stalks of asparagus. Discard the thicker woody portion opposite the tip end. Cut the rest of the asparagus stalks in similar proportion to the initial stalks that you do by hand.
• The asparagus only needs a few minutes to steam; avoid overcooking. If you have a vegetable steamer, that is preferable. But you can also just place the asparagus in 2 inches of boiling water to briefly cook the asparagus.
• We used dried tarragon, but fresh tarragon would be a nice touch.

Keywords: pasta, asparagus, goat cheese pasta, asparagus and pasta

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