Tagliatelle with Chicken and the Perfect Pairing

Before Craig and I were married and had children, we used to have this thing called free time.

And during that free time, we used to watch this thing called television.

One afternoon, several hours into a Food Network marathon, Nigella Lawson prepared a dish that made us both drool.

We tweaked the recipe a bit and this dish has been one of our absolute favorites ever since.

I love that it’s pretty much foolproof, so it’s a great dish to make for guests.

The only thing that I’ve struggled with is choosing the perfect wine to pair with the strong rosemary in this dish. I like to think that I’m pretty good at choosing the right varietal, but that’s about as close as I can get. So, I’ve asked my friend Rachel to help me out here.

She prepared this dish last week and selected a perfect wine to pair with it.

Please go see which wine she chose and you might also like to download her free food and wine guide.

I hope you’ll love this pairing as much as we do.

Tagliatelle with Chicken

Here’s what you’ll need to make this dish:

• 1 (3 1/2 pound) chicken (we use a large, store-bought rotisserie chicken)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• leaves from 3 fresh rosemary sprigs, minced
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 pound tagliatelle (linguine works just fine, too, and is easier to find)
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves

And here’s what you’ll need to do:

If roasting the chicken yourself, rub all over with oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper, then place the chicken breast down in the roasting pan and roast at 425 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours, or until well browned, turning it over at the end to brown the breast. The chicken is done when the juices run clear–not pink–when you cut into the thigh. When the chicken is nearly ready, bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.

Take the chicken out of the oven and remove meat from the bone, leaving all of the skin on, then cut into chunks.

Mince the rosemary sprigs.

In a large saucepan, toast pine nuts over medium until they are golden. You’ll need to watch these closely, as they easily burn. Transfer the pine nuts to a bowl.

To make the sauce, pour the juices from the roasting pan into the saucepan. (If you are using a store-bought chicken, chicken broth and a bit of olive oil make a great replacement to pan juices.) Add the rosemary, pine nuts, and chicken. Begin to simmer the sauce when you are ready to cook the pasta.

Cook and drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce, top with parsley, and serve in a large warmed bowl.