Penne Con I Broccoli & Salice Salento Rose'

Welcome to our Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) group where once a month we feature a different region of Italy where our bloggers highlight any of the food, wine or travel within the region. This month we feature the region of Puglia in southern Italy. Earlier this week I provided some highlights of Puglia and today I'm going to share a Puglian dish and a suggested wine pairing to compliment it. As many of you know I'm expecting my first child in June so I don't have a particular wine to share with you, but I have enough knowledge to know what are potential wines to seek out for this pairing.

Cuisine of Puglia

Vegetables are in abundance when we talk about the cuisine of Puglia with meats being secondary. I chose to make Penne Con I Broccoli, penne pasta with broccoli.  Of course for a needed protein benefit to my diet I added some chicken. Of course having an Italian mother that is an amazing cook no one's food compares to hers and I can only be so lucky. This recipe she passed down to me and was one of the recommended dishes in my authentic Italian cookbook that I use frequently that showcases the culinary courses of each region.

Ingredients for Penne Con I Broccoli:

Penne pasta (1 pound)

4 heads of fresh broccoli

Chicken (1 pound)
Bread crumbs
1 egg

½ cup of white wine

1 can of cream of chicken

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley

2-3 cloves of garlic

Pecorino cheese
Parmesan cheese

Salt/Pepper

Preparations

• Prepare the water for the pasta adding salt and bring to a boil. 
• In a saute pan, saute garlic and sea salt on low a few minutes until aromatic.   Add chicken and flavor with salt and pepper.
• Combine bread crumbs, grated parmesan, salt, pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat 1 egg. Dip pieces of chicken into the egg mixture and then immediately into the other bowl and coat with bread crumbs and other ingredients.
• Cook chicken until browned, then add white wine and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add pasta once water is boiling and cook to stated/desired time.
• Add cream of chicken and simmer on low an additional 10 minutes.
• Pour chicken and sauce over pasta and top with fresh parsley and pecorino cheese.
  

Puglian Wine Pairing

Puglia is known for producing some of the best rose' wines within Italy and I always feel that rose' is not always a top option that consumers think of when looking to purchase a wine. So my wine suggestion today to pair with the penne con I broccoli is a Salice Salento rose', aka rosato, from the province of Salento and primarily the town of Brindisi and Lecce. 

By Magnus Reuterdahl

Salento is a low lying peninsula jutting between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas and makes up the heel of boot when we're talking about the overall layout of Italy. Salice Salento roses are made up of mostly the negroamaro grape and black malvasia. The rose' of Salice Salento will typically have fresh, fruity characteristics with some body from the short period of maceration from these red grapes.

Salento, Puglia by Victoria

Some of our favorite dishes hail from regions of Italy we may have never known about including this dish. Try some wines from Puglia and let me know what you enjoy on your Italian food & wine journey.

The fun doesn't stop here!  Lots more from my fellow bloggers.  Don't forget to join our live Twitter chat Saturday April 2nd @ 11am EST at #ItalianFWT.  Next month on Saturday May 7th we celebrate Lombardy.  

Vino Travels - Penne Con I Broccoli with Salice Salento Rose'
Paradise of Exiles - Three Wine Bars in Lecce
Orna O'Reilly - A Taste of Puglia
Culinary Adventures with Camilla - Insalata con Polpi in Umido e Patate
Food Wine Click - Primitivo and Pasta from the Heel of the Boot
Rockin Red Blog - Puglia: Take Me Away!
Cooking Chat - Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Kale
The Palladian Traveler - Savoring the Salento
Vigneto Communications - Indigenous Grapes of Puglia
Postcardz from Victoria - A Tuscan Wine Legend Finds Inspiration in Puglia
The Wining Hour - Pleasures of Puglia: Primitivo, Cavatelli and Shrimp & Eggplant Arrabbiata
L'Occasion - A Night In: Celebrate Puglia at Home

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