Brian:  *puts wine bottle down on the kitchen counter*  “I’m assuming that has a lot of fat in it?”

Me: *tastes the sauce*  “Oh yeah!”

Wine pairing: Fabre Montmayou, Grand Vin (Malbec), 2006

Recipe:

4 links smoked country sausage, venison if possible, sliced thin
1 red pepper, chopped
1 large shallot (or a small onion), minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup white wine
1/2 cup cream
1/2 pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 jar marinated artichokes, slivered
1 cup cherry tomatoes (a good handful)

3/4 mezza rigattoni or similar pasta

Put a pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta.  Cut up the sausage, red pepper, shallot, and garlic and throw together in a pan to saute over medium heat.  No need to add oil as the fat in the sausage will be enough.  When everthing is nice and cooked up (about 8 minutes), put the wine in the pan and boil it off a bit.

The pasta water should be about ready so throw that in the pot.

Add the artichokes and cream to the meat mixture.  Get it heated up a bit and then put the cream cheese in the pan in small pieces and swoosh them around to melt.  Add in the parmesan a little bit at a time to melt.  Allow this to simmer and thicken.  About 4 minutes before it is ready, add in the cherry tomatoes.  They should be almost ready to pop open when it is done. 

Check that the pasta is done and then add that into the sauce.  Get everything nice and covered.  Serve with parmesan on the side and enjoy with a nice Malbec.

Good stuff! 

* Don’t go back for seconds…trust me.  You will just hurt yourself.