Wine to pair with lemon shrimp pasta?

WINE TALK
1

I have some ideas, but figured I would throw this out there…

I think I’ll make this weekend a lemon pasta with shrimp, based on this recipe:

I do suspect I’ll added some sauteed garlic and crushed chili peppers to add a little more complexity, and will use Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons.

Thoughts/comments/opinions/rants?

Bruce

2

Muscadet

3

I’m going sparkly all the way on this one. Hard to go wrong with bubbles and lemon/seafood.

4

Another vote for Muscadet

5

[welldone.gif]

6

With the garlic, chili flakes and Meyers, I’d go with a Northern Italian white, like Verdicchio, Vermentino or Soave.

If you went with the original recipe, I would pour Loire Sauvignon Blanc in preference to Muscadet because of the higher apparent acidity. (Don’t know the pH range of either Muscadet or SB, but SB tastes crisper to me, and goes very well with lemon.) But you couldn’t go wrong with Muscadet either.

7

sartarelli verdicchio dei castelli di jesi classico tralivio
Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco

8

I’d go with a skin-ferment white, something like Dirty&Rowdy semillon or one from Foradori, Skerk, or something similar.

9

I think people have covered all my choices as well.

Muscadet (although I would make an arguement for most Loire Whites, a dry Sancerre would be nice I think too)

Also I always love a Riesling with Shrimp, to be fair I love Riesling with anything, but I feel like the high acid and mineral notes go well with shrimp. I would keep it towards dry personally for this dish, but a crisp true Kabinett would probably be nice too.

10

Any number of Italian whites. A Pigato would be fantastic. Also, any number of Greek whites.

11

I’m aiming to try the following pasta recipe, perhaps it might interest you for the future (I no longer use olive oil in my pasta water though salt is essential) Also It is so hard to get Angel Hair al dente so I go with linguine:

Like lobster? Butter-poach shrimp
Lynne Char Bennett
Published 3:03 pm, Friday, April 4, 2014 San Francisco Chronicle
I am shrimp fan. Sauteed, stir-fried, broiled, boiled or deep fried - it doesn’t matter. Put a plateful of the crustaceans in front of me and I am a happy gal.

The only time I don’t like them is when they are overcooked.

One way to minimize the chance of overcooking is to use a low-heat technique such as poaching (160°-180°). The shrimp gradually reach their finished temperature and maintain it for a relatively long time.

Poaching is generally done in liquid such as a vegetable-based court bouillon. Poaching shrimp in butter adds an extra note of decadence; they wind up with a lobster-like flavor and texture.

I first learned about butter poaching from Thomas Keller’s “The French Laundry Cookbook.” Beurre monté is a “sauce” of melted butter that remains emulsified instead of separating into layers when heated.

Making beurre monté is simple, really more of a technique than it is a recipe. All that’s needed is a saucepan holding a large splash of water just off the boil, a whisk and chunks of cold butter.

With the saucepan over medium-low heat, drop the butter - a few pieces at a time - into the hot water, whisking constantly. A golden pool of melted butter should form and remain as long as the mixture doesn’t simmer - no bubbles forming at all. That will cause the butter to “break” and lose its emulsification.

If the butter breaks, you will be poaching primarily in a layer of clarified butter, which is similar to olive oil poaching. The texture and flavor of the shrimp will still wonderful, but they will lack the full butter flavor .

This is one time I would go with salted butter, which adds just the right amount of seasoning, depending on the brand. Our test kitchen standard, unsalted butter, will also work, but you will need to evenly season the shrimp once they are cooked.

After the shrimp are done, the poaching butter can be frozen for up to several months and reused for another batch of shrimp.

Poaching shrimp in beurre monté - a “sauce” of melted butter - results in a lobster-like taste and texture. Once you have the butter at near poaching temperature, you can cook as many shrimp as you like. Use whatever size shrimp you desire; just adjust the cooking time. You can also secure each shrimp head-to-tail with a toothpick, dust with a light sprinkle of smoked paprika or chopped parsley and serve as hors d’oeuvres, or serve on a bed of herbed couscous.

1 pound extra-large shrimp
(26/30 count per pound).
3 to 4 tablespoons water
1 to 1 1/2 pounds (4 to 6 sticks) salted butter, cut into large chunks
– Lemon slices, optional
– Freshly ground black pepper, optional
Instructions: Use a pair of small, pointy kitchen scissors to cut down the back of the shrimp to expose the vein, which may be dark. Peel the shrimp and remove the veins. Rinse if needed, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.

Place a small to medium sauce pan over medium-high heat and add the water. When it comes to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low. While whisking, start adding the butter a chunk at a time at first. Adjust your heat so that the butter is hot and easily melts but doesn’t simmer. There should not be any bubbles. As they melt, add more chunks until all the butter is incorporated. This will take a few minutes. The butter should remain emulsified and not separate, which it will if it gets too hot.

Use as much butter as needed to have a depth of about 1 1/4-1 1/2 inches; the size of your sauce pan will determine how much butter you will need. (At a minimum, the depth of the butter should be a little deeper than the thickness of your shrimp. If it is deeper than that, you will be able to poach more shrimp at a time.)

Add just enough shrimp to the butter so they are all immersed. You can fiddle with the heat if you want to keep the butter at optimum temperature, 160°-180°. If you leave the heat alone, it just might take a little longer for the shrimp to finish. Cook until the shrimp are opaque, about 5 minutes. When properly cooked, they will be moderately curved. If tightly curved into a circle, they have overcooked.

Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon, and season with a squeeze of lemon juice and a grind of pepper, if desired. If working in batches, keep shrimp and a little butter warm in a 200° oven.

Freeze the poaching butter for up to 6 months; reuse by rewarming with the beurre monte technique.

12

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I’m tempted to try a dry Italian white; preferably one I’ve never had before just to see what’s what.

Bruce

13

I picked up this Fiano and will post notes later:

Leonard–Interesting recipe; I might try it down the road. FWIW, I’ve tried the shrimp roasting technique along the lines of the recipe I posted, and it’s pretty foolproof as long as you time it.

Bruce

14

A Pigato from Liguria would be perfect - as would some of the heftier whites from Alto Adige or Collio. And, as someone mentioned previously - a Vermentino would work as well -

15

Photo posted below. This particular Fiano was an excellent match. On its own, a medium aromatic and medium weight white wine, with lots of minerality (slight oyster shells?) and sea spray, citrus, honey, and wax notes throughout. Really crispy, vibrant acidity that immediately reaches the sides of your tongue. A clean finish, with all of the above notes. An excellent wine on its own, great with the dish–big enough to handle lemon, garlic, and crushed red peppers, but not at all overpowering. Thanks for reminding me to dip back into the very large sea of Italian white wines.

Bruce
Lemon Shrimp Pasta #1a 4-12-14.jpg

16

beurre monté is one of the greatest things in the world.
and nice call on the Fiano

17

Another (albeit late) option is a Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Rocca delle Macie is one we enjoyed last night with another variation of shrimp pasta and amberjack with a corn and avocado relish.

18

Fiano was a very good choice, especially since you added flavor depth. When making next tome, falanghina would also work. If more on the delicate side, I agree with the pigato rec, and would also suggest arneis.

19

I’ll give those other suggestions a try with another dish. When I read the comments on the original recipe, there seemed to be clear consensus that it “needed” garlic and/or crushed pepper flakes to give it a little more life.

I give the Wine House sales guy a tip of the hat for the Fiano recommendation. I was looking at various options in the Italian white section (the ones mentioned above, Arneis, etc.), and he suggested the Fiano. A very good call.

But to be candid, I probably would have been happy with a burned shoe over penne with Night Train. I had been sick earlier in the week, and this was my first “adult” food & beverage moment since last weekend. [snort.gif]

Bruce

20

Nice choice. Terredora di Paolo makes a reliable, serviceable middle-of-the-road Fiano. I totally see how this combo worked out great.
Brad, I’m not sure I’d place Pigato on the delicate end of the white wine spectrum. Most of the good ones can be rather concentrated, tangy and emphatic wines, with appreciable extract, intensely chalky, mouth-puckering salinity, and often a heavy hint of petroleum on the nose. No shrinking violets in my book.