Every Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine that exceeds its normal £10 ($20) threshold with one great meal, prepared following the instructions of some the Internet’s best food blogs.

This week’s ‘Blow the Bank’ continues to take a departure from the norm and comes courtesy of its own recipe for Cod Saltimbocca with Butter Bean Arrabiatta.

InterWined’s little sister Kathy moved from the States to Rome last month, where she rents a very smart little flat in the centre of the city with all the modern amenities save for an oven. Never the best cook, she turned to her elder brother InterWined’s ‘Blow the Bank’ scribe Sean for help devising recipes and meals for hob and microwave. As the phrase ‘fresh from the microwave’ is close to oxymoronic and less likely to parse the lips that the ever-popular two-finger salute to detente ‘I nuked it’ in reference to results of microwave cooking, this leaves the hob and a bevy of fantastic dishes such as InterWined’s own Cod Saltimbocca with Butter Bean Arrabiatta.

As searches on Google and the Wikipedia will no doubt confirm, saltimbocca and arrabiatta are Italian approximations for the more mundane ‘bacon-wrapped’ and ‘spicy-sauced’, both names are far more exotic and impressive in Italian than they will ever be in English. So, when in Rome do as the Romans do; and when in London or wherever you might be reading this, do as the Romans do too.

The 2006 Cuvée Pierre-Louis Pouilly Fumé makes a stunning match to the Cod Saltimbocca. Its slight acidity and lemony flavour adds a gentle zing to the fish and speck, while its crisp aftertaste and freshness nicely compliment the spice of the butter beans.

A Loire Sauvignon Blanc, the Cuvée Pierre-Louis Pouilly Fumé perfectly suits its £10 price tag (£9.99 from Sainsbury’s), even if, it was ultimately unsurprising. This isn’t wine to inspire friends or verse; however, it is a wine to enjoy and buy more than once and perfect for pairing with food — especially when you wish for the dish to steal the show.

Pouilly Fumé is famed for its dryness and minerality, with wine critics often citing the Loire’s unique terroir and chalky soil as the source of its minerality. And while, the 2006 Cuvée Pierre-Louis is characteristically dry, it’s not very or chalky. Which is no bad thing, simply worth noting: 8.5.

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

Cod Saltimbocca with Butter Bean Arrabiatta

Ingredients:
2 cod steaks, skinned and boned
6 slices of prosciutto di speck (cured Italian ham)
2-3 fresh sage leaves (optional)
2 tins of cooked butter buns
½ white onion, finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
Half jar of capers
2 Birdseye chillies finely chopped or 2 tbsp of chilli flakes
½ cup of white wine (same as pairing)
Olive Oil
½ pummet of pomodorino (cherry) tomatoes, loosely chopped
½ tin of chopped tomatoes
Black Pepper

Preparation:

1. Wrap each cod steak in three slices of prosciutto di speck (and line with the optional sage leaves); be sure to overlap the ends of each slice and line them up with the middle of the cod steaks (it will make sealing the speck much easier)
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet or saucepan (Start on a high heat and them take the temp to medium)
3. Add the speck-wrapped cod steaks and gently seal them, turning them often to prevent sticking to the pan
4. After the speck is sealed, lower the heat slightly and continue to cook the cod for approximately 10 minutes or until fully cooked
5. In a separate saucepan or pot, add the garlic and onion and sweat them, until the onion becomes translucent
6. Try not to let the garlic turn too brown and stick to the pan
7. Add the chopped pomodorinos, stir vigorously and deglaze the pan with the white wine
8. Allow the liquid to boil and begin to reduce, before adding the black pepper and chillies
9. Once reduced (after 3-4 minutes), add the tins of chopped tomatoes and butter beans and half jar of capers
10. Raise the heat and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring regularly
11. Once the cod steaks have cooked, serve atop the arrabiatta butter beans

Download & Print Recipe

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