Happy birthday, Wine Pairing Weekend! Last June, we started the monthly #winePW event to bring together bloggers who like to focus on the interplay of good food and wine pairings. Today we kick off the second year of Wine Pairing Weekend with something new–focusing on a specific grape varietal. Nope, not a household name grape like Chardonnay or Cab; today we are coming up with pairings for Arneis, an Italian white grape varietal. Thanks to Valerie from Girls Gotta Drink for hosting and bringing us this new idea!
Italy has literally thousands of grape varietals, so it’s a great place to explore new wines. Perfect for #winePW, too, because Italian wines tend to be very food friendly.
I had tried and enjoyed Arneis a few times before, but I didn’t know a lot about it before this #winePW. I didn’t know prior to researching for this article that Arneis means “little rascal” or that it used to be blended with Nebbiolo to soften the tannins.
What to make to go with a bottle of Arneis? Seafood tends to go well with a lot of Italian whites, but I’d been doing a lot of grilled fish lately and was ready for something different. Then I read Val’s description of a typical Arneis–the medium body and citrus element made me think it might go well with pesto. I was making this on a busy weekend, and landed on the idea of simply tossing some kale pesto with some frozen cheese tortellini. A few sliced multi-colored cherry tomatoes on top added nicely to the presentation. I’m always looking for more ways to use my healthy kale pesto! Let’s see how that kale pesto tortellini worked out with the Arneis…
Wine Pairing: I chose a bottle of 2013 Guidobono Roero Arneis ($15). Val also noted 2013 Arneis tends to have higher acidity than some, which bode well for pairing with pesto. Roero is a small DOCG in the Piedmont region of Italy. It’s particularly well-known for Arneis, but I’ve also enjoyed Nebbiolo from Roero produced by Guidobono.
This Arneis has a light straw color in the glass. Clean taste with a bit of melon. Refreshes the palate after a bite of the pesto, which has a bit of kick. Sign of a good pairing when a sip of the wine whets the appetite for another bite of the food! I give the Arneis with Kale Pesto Tortellini pairing a thumbs up!
The wine is on the light side in terms of style and body, making for easy sipping as the weather gets warmer. Definitely a good wine for summer sipping, as well as for food pairing.
PrintRecipe card
Kale Pesto Tortellini
Healthy kale pesto tossed with cheese tortellini for an easy and tasty entree.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups tightly packed kale leaves, stems removed
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- generous pinch red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup (or a tad more) grated pecorino romano cheese
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 12 ozs cheese tortellini
- 1 cup of sliced cherry tomatoes
Instructions
- Add the kale and garlic to a food processor, coarsely chopping to create enough room for the other ingredients.
- Add the remaining ingredients, from the pine nuts through the olive oil, and puree until it comes to a nice smooth consistency.
- Cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Drain the tortellini.
- Toss the tortellini with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the pesto, stir to combine well. Plate and serve with the extra kale pesto at the table, so people can decide how much pesto they would like on their tortellini. top with a few of the sliced tomatoes, if using.
If you’d like to find more healthy recipes featuring kale pesto and other healthy green dishes, be sure to check out my Collards & Kale Cookbook!
- Esplorando Arneis con #WinePW, Dracaena Wines
- Summer Arneis Food Pairing: BBQ Chicken in a Citrus Butter Curry Sauce, GirlsGottaDrink
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara for #SummerOfArneis #WinePW, Curious Cuisiniere
- Kale Pesto Tortellini Paired with Arneis, Cooking Chat
- Shrimp and Fennel Risotto with Arneis, FoodWineClick
- Arneis through the Eyes of Malvira, Vino Travels
- Heritage Grain Risotto with Roero Arneis, Wine Pass
- Damilano Langhe Arneis Paired with Dungeness Crab and Pea Purée Crostini, Pull That Cork
- Maltagliati con Sugo dei Porri e Trotte alla Salvia, Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Italian Arneis Wine for #WinePW (yum – linguini and clam sauce!), A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Summer of Arneis on #WinePW, Rockin Red Blog
- Shrimp and Cheese Grits with Vietti Arneis, Enofylz Wine Blog
- Shrimp, Fennel, Fava Bean Pasta with Vietti Arneis, Tasting Pour
Valerie
OMG, that looks amazing. Cannot wait to try it. Thanks for participating – and Buon Compleanno, #WInePW!
Salute!
Cooking Chat
Thanks Val, this was a fun #winePW!
Jennifer Martin (Vino Travels)
Can’t believe it’s been a year already with #WinePW. It definitely has forced me to be creative so thank you. 2 of my favorite combinations, pesto and tortellini! Looks yummy!
Cooking Chat
Thanks for being a regular Jen! And I’ve enjoyed the #ItalianFWT that gives us another good food/wine Saturday each month.
Jeff
Nice call on the pesto, David. Especially now that the basil is starting to really grow, it’s time to harvest fresh from the garden!
Camilla @ Culinary Adventures
A year? Already?!? Time flies when you’re having fun. Thanks for starting this group, David. I love learning more about wines and getting great new recipes with which to pair them.
Cooking Chat
It’s been a fun year, look forward to another 12 #winePWs ahead!
Lori
I love your statement Sign of a good pairing when a sip of the wine whets the appetite for another bite of the food! It is absolutely true. Your dish looks fantastic and I love the addition of the colored tomatoes. I will have to steal that the next time I make pesto.
Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm
I really enjoyed this wine and your pasta is just lovely.
Nancy|PullThatCork
As always, amazing food. The pairing looks delicious. Happy Birthday to #winePW, and thanks David for starting it all. We have really enjoyed the challenge of #winePW. It has made us think more critically about pairing food and wine. I’m so happy to participate. Cheers!
Cooking Chat
It’s been great to have you participate, Nancy! I always get hungry seeing what you made.
Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere
I can’t believe we’ve been going strong for 1 year! Thanks for all your hard work getting this wonderful group going! Your kale pest would be wonderful with the Arneis. Now we need to find another bottle to try all these delicious pairings!
Cooking Chat
Thanks for being a regular #winePW blogger, Sarah!
Diana Zahuranec
I adore different kinds of pesto. This looks amazing.. Healthy and delicious! Yum…just wish I could find kale easier over here. There is a place where I can find a mix of collard and field greens, and while it’s not kale, I bet it would work great too.
I’m glad to join the #WinePW group — exactly a year after it started!
Cooking Chat
I bet collards would work nicely, Diana! Thanks for joining us for the #WinePW fun!
Martin Redmond
I didn’t realize it’s been a year David! Congratulations! I love being part of #winePW (I’ll host one of these days). As for your dish…it looks fabulous. And congrats on the cookbook too!