08/16/07 Food & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today is Food and Wine pairing day. We are of course finding the annual zucchini abundance upon us. On today's program we are going to address the zucchini and the wine that goes with it. Okay so here we are in the midst of the summer garden season and the ever so plentiful crop of zucchini. This year I thought I could put a stop to the abundance by only putting in two plants. Next year I'll try planting one. So let's get right down to it. Zucchini is versatile and I love it grated and combined with ricotta cheese, breadcrumbs and lemon zest to make a lightly pan fired style of fritters. It is very good if you in addition squeeze a bit more lemon over them and serve with Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. Next think about the classic ratatouille with lots of zucchini and rather than tomato sauce try creating a juicy pesto infused sauce for the veggies. It is delightful with fruitier red wines and oaky whites. If you make zucchini brad try making it savory rather than sweet and serving it as you would cornbread alongside ribs and barbecue chicken. It is very good and goes well with Syrah. So don't fight it just pick it and deal with it. Most zucchini recipes aren't half as imaginative as you can be  so why not pick a wine and make your zucchini to match it? If you come up with something good please email me at vine to wine dot and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.