• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Cooking Chat
  • About
  • Find a Recipe
  • Wine Pairings
    • Wine Pairing Help
    • Wine Pairing Weekend & Other Wine Pairing Events
    • White Wine Pairings
    • Red Wine Pairings
    • Wine Pairings for Seafood
    • Summer Wine Pairings
  • Work with me
  • Resources
    • Food Blogger Resources
    • Cookbooks and Kitchen Tools
    • Collards and Kale Cookbook
      • Collards and Kale Affiliate Program
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Mexican Recipes
  • Grilled Seafood
  • Vegetarian Pasta Recipes
  • Grilled Steak
  • Appetizers
  • Recipes using leftovers
  • Salad
  • Red Wine Pairings
  • About
×

Home » Vegetarian Pasta Recipes » Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta and Donnachiara Wines

Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta and Donnachiara Wines

Published: Mar 30, 2019 · Modified: Aug 11, 2020 by Cooking Chat · This post may contain affiliate links

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

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.

a plate of asparagus goat cheese pasta with a bottle of white wine.

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.

a bottle of white and a bottle of red wine from Donnachiara.

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 goat cheese pasta on a plate with lemon on the side.

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

donnachiara greco di tufo white wine

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.

asparagus goat cheese pasta paired with Donnachiara Greco di Tufo

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:

bottle of beneventano Falanghina white wine.

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!

Print

Asparagus Goat Cheese Pasta

plate of asparagus goat cheese pasta.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

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
  • 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 tablespoon 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

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @CookingChatWine on Instagram and hashtag it #CookingChat

Recipe Card powered byTasty Recipes

 

« Wine Pairing for Mushroom Risotto
Indian Butter Chicken Without Dairy »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carissa Shaw

    March 30, 2019 at 7:58 am

    Asparagus and goat cheese pasta is definitely a perfect dish to have with these wines! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Laura

    March 30, 2019 at 8:03 am

    It’s been some time since I made something similar at home but I do remember how amazing goat cheese with pasta is. Add wine to this meal, and it will be an absolute winner. Delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 30, 2019 at 8:27 am

      yes, goat cheese melts nicely! And it is wine friendly too.

      Reply
  3. kim

    March 30, 2019 at 8:15 am

    Such great pairing ideas! I want to try all of them!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 30, 2019 at 8:26 am

      That’s the spirit Kim!

      Reply
  4. Allison Wallace

    March 30, 2019 at 8:20 am

    We love asparagus season and this recipe looks like another winner. We’ve also never tried Donnachiara so we’ll definitely be on the lookout for these wines. Do you happen to know if they get exported to Canada?

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 30, 2019 at 8:26 am

      Thanks Allison. Do you have Total Wine in Canada? That is one big chain that carries them. I can check about other options.

      Reply
  5. Kristen

    March 30, 2019 at 8:29 am

    What a perfect al fresco meal for a spring evening. Goat cheese and pasta are just a match made in heaven and the asparagus makes the dish so elegant.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Julia

    March 30, 2019 at 9:01 am

    I love quick pasta recipes like this one. Those wines sound delicious too 🙂

    Reply
  7. Robin Bell Renken

    March 30, 2019 at 12:32 pm

    There are so many great wines to try! Greco di Tufo, is not one I have had, but I am looking forward to seeking out a bottle. And I am definitely picking up some asparagus, before the season passes (it’s almost over here) and making this dish!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 30, 2019 at 8:29 pm

      Wow, asparagus season almost over, better get this going soon Robin!

      Reply
  8. Lori

    March 30, 2019 at 9:44 pm

    I LOVE asparagus. and when you add in the goat cheese, I am drooling! Definitely making this recipe! Sounds so delicious and so simple.

    Reply
  9. Jennifer

    March 31, 2019 at 5:42 am

    Asparagus is very hard to pair with wine, so it’s quite clever that you focused more on pairing with the cheese to make it work. Good job on finding a wine that works well with an asparagus dish!

    I just recently had Retenez Son Nom from the Alsace with our white asparagus from Blaye at a wine bar here in Bordeaux who put together this unique pairing. The asparagus was quite simple with just olive oil and pomegranate, and I was surprised at how well the pairing worked.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      March 31, 2019 at 6:09 am

      That sounds like a great pairing, Jennifer! You don’t see white asparagus much in the US.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi there! I'm David. I love creating tasty, (mostly) healthy recipes, finding great wine pairings, and sharing good food with family and friends. learn more about me!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Newsletter Sign-Up

Recent Posts

  • Red Cabbage Pasta with Condriesque White Wine #winePW
  • Episode 9: Wine for CSA Veggies with Camilla Mann
  • Episode 8: Learning about CSAs – with Lacey from Warner Farm
  • Easy Grilled Swordfish with Garlic Soy Marinade
  • Episode 7: Eating Local Food While Traveling
save 20% at feastdesignco.com

Copyright © 2022 Cooking Chat · Privacy Policy.