With two kids active in various sports, you need a recipe that can pull together a healthy, delicious meal in a short amount of time. This is precisely what the chef ordered.
Penne con Pollo e Spinaci (Penne with Chicken & Spinach)
1 pound Penne
3/4 cup basic tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 fresh tomato, diced
3 chicken thighs, diced
1 package fresh baby spinach
In about 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, brown the thighs in a large saute pan until almost cooked through. Add the garlic and the fresh tomato, season with salt and pepper and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the tomato starts to break down, drop the pasta into boiling water and add the tomato sauce to the saute pan. Then add the spinach to the saute pan a little at a time. It will take up a lot of room at first, but will wilt away to nothing. I used the entire package. Drain the pasta, combine and serve. Total time to make this was probably less than 20 minutes. Serve with grated cheese. Here’s a picture just before the pasta was done.
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| Penne con Pollo e Spinaci |
With this we opened the 2005 Tiezzi Brunello di Montalcino. With three great vintages for Brunello in 4 years, (2004, 2006, 2007) I haven’t bought any 2005’s – and this one was provided by a guest®. 2005 was not a bad vintage for Brunello, the consortium rates it at 4 stars, while the others get 5 stars. Given that, this wine falls a bit short. In the glass, it’s medium ruby, with substantial orange/bricking at the rim. The nose is pleasant, with dried fruits, earth, and slight spice. In the mouth, the wine is somewhat monolithic with medium body, cherry fruit and spice. Yet the fruit already appears a bit “dried out” and the tannins more stemmy, than seductive and ripe. Overall, I think representative of the vintage. It’s a good wine, but given that the prices on 2005’s are not discounted, there’s no reason to stock up on these when so many better vintages are available. About $40. 86 points.
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| 2005 Tiezzi Brunello di Montalcino |
John, I've read that Italy has 1 million wineries, give or take a few hundred backyard vines, but would you ponder to guess how many are substantial wineries producing Brunello?
Thanks,
Dennis
Dennis,
There are just over 200 registered with the Consorzio now. I don't know that I'd agree that all 200 are "substantial". Many I've never heard of, but that may simply be because they don't export their wines.
If you go here and look to the left, you can download a cool map of the Brunello region and see where all the producers are located.
http://www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it/index.php?lg=en&p=9
J
Very nice John, thank you very MUCH!!