Candoni Pinot Grigio

“This wine rains kisses in your mouth.” –Insatiable By Gael Greene

The first Wednesday of every month is Wine Wednesday! Spectacular wines under $10.00. Yep. Under $10.00. Sometimes wine is less expensive where I am, but most of the time it’s more expensive. Hopefully that means that I will pick wines that are well below the $10.00 limit for most of you.

I will post wines that I particularly like. I am no specialist by any means, but I do love wine. I know the basics of the different varietals, what regions generally produce, how wines are made, but this space is all about preference. We all like what we like, and you might like what I like too. I will post food pairings and why those pairings are suitable for the specific wine.

Candoni Pinot Grigio 2014

Price: $8.98

Variety: Pinot Grigio

Happy Wine Wednesday! Wow summer sure has flown by so far. I used to think of the Fourth of July as the start of summer when I was younger. Now I see it for what it is—the mile marker in summer that signals it’s about to Autumn in the blink of an eye.

So we might as well try to slow down and relax, right? Enjoy these summer days while we can (although admittedly, autumn and winter are my favorite seasons…)! Enter this lemon pizza and Pinot Grigio.

I really only drink white wine in the warmer months—when I’m craving a refreshing sip of something cool, acidic, and a bit astringent. So this Pinot Grigio is right up my alley this time of year. It’s hot, and I’m all up for midday lunches accompanied by glasses of white wine. This Pinot Grigio is especially great because it’s affordable, very crisp, and slightly acidic. It’s not especially sweet but it isn’t super mouth-puckering either. When I first tasted this wine, I thought immediately of lemon and pizza!

Bear with me; this is going to sound strange. But an easy drinking white like this goes exceptionally well with many things including foods that are sometimes deemed “unworthy” to enjoy with wine. Like pizza! The acidity is accompanied quite well by something bready like a pizza crust. It tampers down the acidity (though modest) while the other ingredients to come accentuate it. But also, pizza and wine belong together folks. They really do. At least in terms of entertaining, which is what I envision Wine Wednesday ideally being. A get together with your loved ones, your best friends, to celebrate small happenings in your lives. Smack dab in the middle of the week to keep us all sane. Squares of homemade pizza grabbed up with glasses of white wine—I bet you’re starting to see why I like the idea of wine and pizza going together. (BONUS! This pizza crust has only two ingredients and is as easy as ever to make)

And why lemon? Well we need to bring out notes in the wine that the pizza crust muddles. That fact that I’ve already written crisp and acidic like a bajillion times probably teed you off to that. I.e. lemon in liquid form. But there are other reasons. There are more delicate flavors like various green notes and pear that lemon really helps to bring out. Roasting the lemon, such as in this recipe, creates sweeter, browned notes that help you find nuance elsewhere in each sip of wine as it compliments and contrasts the flavors at the forefront of the wine.

And finally, the slightly acidic sour cream, thyme, arugula, and garlic that round out the pizza add exquisite savory and bitter notes which always adds depth to wine. Take a sip of wine, followed by a bite of pizza, followed by another sip of wine. I think you’ll get what I mean when you get an overall different feel in the wine’s flavor profile.

So enjoy this Wine Wednesday and lots more to come. With pizza and wine and the best company. Gulps or tiny mouthfuls, red or white, sweet or dry, you do you ;).

Lemon Pizza with Two Ingredient Pizza Dough

Serves 2-3 as a meal, 4 as an appetizer

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup self-rising flour, plus about ¾ cups more

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 lemons

½ cup sour cream

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup ricotta cheese

⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ tablespoon thyme leaves, chopped

Lots of salt and black pepper

Handful arugula leaves, rinsed and patted dry

1. Preheat oven to 450⁰F. Combine the Greek yogurt and self-rising flour with a spoon until all incorporated. It will be pretty moist. Flour a surface and knead the dough for about three minutes adding flour until it is not so sticky (I ended up adding an extra ½ cup self-rising flour). Spread the dough out onto a baking sheet to desired thickness, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt if desired, and bake for about 10 minutes—until the dough is firm to the touch but not quite browned. This time will change depending on how thin your crust is.
2. Remove the crust from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Keep the oven on.
3. Meanwhile, slice the lemon into very thin slices (about 1/8 inch thick) and seed it as you go. Try to keep in-tact lemon flesh inside the rind for a more aesthetically pleasing look.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop the lemon slices into the water for about 45 seconds. Remove onto a paper towel and pat dry.
5. Mix together the sour cream, garlic, and a big pinch each of salt and pepper. Spread evenly over the cooled crust.
6. Dot the ricotta over the top. Cover the pizza with your blanched lemon wheels.
7. Sprinkle the top with the red pepper flakes, chopped thyme leaves, and a few more cracks of black pepper.
8. Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes or until browned all over and the lemons are beginning to get golden. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 3-5 minutes.
9. Top all over with the arugula.
10. Cut into slices and serve! Add more salt, pepper, or red pepper flakes depending on your preference.