The holidays are known for more than just giving gifts; it’s about the food and beverages of the season. Thanks to both sets of grandparents, I learned how to cook a number of dishes from both sides of the family. My paternal grandmother loved to serve up a steaming plate of pasta with a great sauce (with or without meat) and wine was often on the table. People would come to my paternal grandmother’s house for at least 4 different nights from Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day.
Seeing the email that shared the great pasta recipe below: Grandma Marlene’s Christmas Eve Pasta Casserole, reminded me of all the dinners over the years that my grandmother served a pasta dish very similar to Marlene’s recipe (listed below):
Marlene (Spadafore) Schober was Gina’s paternal Grandma. Christmas Eve was HER holiday -she looked forward all year long to Christmas Eve. Her family was the most important thing to her. With one quick phone call that you were coming over to visit, she would have plenty of snacks and food waiting on the table for you. With enough time, she would whip up a chocolate cream pie, (Gina’s favorite) along with her pancakes. Marlene grew up in El Cerrito, CA, and her ancestry is Southern Italian – the region known as Calabria. Her grandparents immigrated from the Calabrian town, Cosenza.
This recipe sounds yummy and the photos below show off how great this recipe is! Wine is essential in this recipe and also paired as the beverage of choice when serving this great dish! The wine of choice is from Sans Wine Co. and the specific wine to select is Sans Wine Co. Carignan.
About the Sans Wine Co. Carignan.
The ‘Coyote Rock’ block on the Poor Ranch was planted in 1943. The entire ranch is certified organic and farmed by 5th generation grape growers, John, John Samuel, and Susan Poor.
What does ‘carbonic’ mean?
It’s a winemaking technique that is commonly associated with Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau wines in France. Whole grape clusters are placed into a tank with carbon dioxide and then sealed up. Alcoholic fermentation begins in the interior of the grape due to the lack of oxygen, and the berries eventually burst open! A carbonic maceration results in red wines that are lower in tannin, lighter in style, fruit-driven, fresh and lively!
Certified Vegan, Unfined, Unfiltered. No Added Sulfites, Only Naturally Occurring Sulfites
This wine is the perfect partner for Grandma Marlene’s Christmas Eve dinner recipe below!
And you might be wondering how much wine is in a can of Sans Wine Co. Carignan? Each can contains the equivalent of 1/2 bottle of a regular bottle of wine.
Grandma Marlene’s Christmas Eve Pasta Casserole
Ingredients:
1 lb. penne pasta,
2 lbs. Italian sausage, ground, removed from casing (1 lb mild & 1 lb hot)
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce*
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes*
1 6 oz. can tomato paste *
1 yellow onion, chopped
A few garlic cloves, minced
1⁄4-1⁄2 cup Sans Wine Co. Carignan
1 lb. shredded mozzarella (16 oz pack)
EVOO#
Spices-salt & pepper, dried oregano (pinch – eyeball it)
Casserole Dish
*You can use tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste with Italian herbs. Also, feel free to double or triple the sauce recipe. Gina
always doubles or triple this, depending on how many she is cooking for!
#Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cooking Instructions:
Add EVOO to a large soup pot, and cook down the sausage – break up the meat while it cooks.
Cook until browned.
Add chopped onion and garlic and cook until translucent.
Add Sans Wine Co. Carignan to deglaze.
Cook down for a few minutes.
Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste, and about 1⁄4 cup water.
Add your salt & pepper, dried oregano.
Cook sauce down for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook penne pasta until “al dente” – meaning don’t overcook your pasta!
(There are “al dente” cooking instructions on your pasta box!)
Strain and add to a bowl, drizzle with some EVOO so that the pasta doesn’t stick together.
In your casserole dish, add a layer of sauce, layer of pasta, layer of cheese.
Repeat until you’ve used up all of your sauce, pasta, and mozzarella, finishing with the cheese on top/last layer.
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cover with foil (make sure the inside of the foiled is sprayed with non-stick spray so that the cheese doesn’t stick)
Poke holes in the foil to let heat escape.
Bake for 30 minutes then remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees to get cheese bubbly.
Here’s what the pasta dish looks like when served. It looks totally yummy to me!
Wondering about canned wine? Wines vary dependent on the grape, the climate in which the grapes have grown along with the time of year it’s harvested and starts the process of becoming wine. That process is pretty much the same for various varieties. The unique part comes from the vintner and how he treats it before bottling. In this case, before the wine is canned.
Here’s a video that features Jake and Gina from Sans Wine Company to talk about canned wines and more specifically their canned wines!
About the Sans Wine Co. Founders:
Founders Jake Stover and Gina Schober met in 2013 and started Sans Wine Co. in late 2015. Their preference for fresh, vibrant, and approachable “wines of place” paved the way for what is now Sans Wine Co. The philosophy behind Sans Wine Co. is sourcing premium wine grapes from organically farmed vineyards and environmentally conscious growers in order to craft natural wines.
Want to check out more about the Sans Wine Co. here: https://sans-wine-co.myshopify.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanswineco
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sanswineco
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanswineco/
Stevie Wilson
LA-Story.com
Want to leave a comment or ask a question? Please send an email to stevie.wilson@LA-Story.com
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