Pasta Gigi

I recently dined with a couple of good friends at a new little bistro in Montreal’s tourist trap downtown. Angelo’s is a quaint (and recently-renovated) Italian bistro located at 1184 Crescent Street—across the street from a city landmark known for its house-brewed beer: Brutopia.

The hostess came to take our orders and I had settled with the penne Gigi. Needless to say, it was delectable and was only elevated by a well-chosen Italian white wine from the Ruffino vineyard—Orvietto 2006. The sauce, however, was the lynchpin of the entrée and I was inspired to make it myself.

I inspected the various contents of the sauce and its aromatic elements. Here are the ingredients and recipe for a fine home-cooked Gigi sauce:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons [30 ml] olive oil
1 cup [250 ml] freshly sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup [125 ml] pancetta ham
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 green onions
2 teaspoons [10 ml] flour
1/4 cup [60 ml] white wine
1 cup [250 ml] 15 percent cream
2 tablespoons [30 ml] tomato sauce
20g of good anchovy filets in oil
1-2 leaves fresh sage
1 sprig rosemary
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Recipe:

In a heavy sauce pan on medium-high heat, add olive oil and filets of anchovies until the latter disintegrate into the oil. Now add the garlic and green onions. Once the contents begin to sweat, add the mushrooms and allow them to cook and soften. Add wine and reduce by half, stirring contents occasionally to allow marriage of all aromatic elements.

Now add flour in small increments, stirring in quickly to prevent clumping. The once limpid mixture will now thicken. Now reduce heat to medium and add cream, stirring in at the same time. When the cream begins to evaporate, add tomato sauce and thoroughly stir the contents. Lower the heat to a simmer and let cook for 20-30 minutes.

In a boiling pot, add 3-4 liters of water and bring to a boil. Choices of pasta for a Gigi sauce vary according to taste but penne rigate, linguine and fusili are fine choices. When water reaches ebullition, add salt and olive oil and then dunk 450g pasta until cooked to al dente.

Suggested wine pairings:

As mentioned above, the choice of wine we had at the bistro turned out to be a perfect pairing for the Penne Gigi. It also worked well with my friend’s grilled halibut and pasta aioli and my other friend’s linguine carbonara. The choice was a Casa Ruffino Orvietto Classico from the 2006 vintage. This particular product, as you shall see, represents a fine compromise between price and quality.

Other fine choices include the softer tannins and buttery texture of French Chardonnay and Aligotés. Both are typical white wine grapes of several pretigious regions, including Burgundy.