Cabernet Franc Paired with an Easy Appetizer
Need an easy wine and food pairing? The holiday season is fast approaching, which can drive any cook crazy. The mess. The various palates and food needs. The dirty kitchen with the mound of dishes. The too many cooks in the kitchen. We can console each other as holiday cooking can be overwhelming. But here's an easy appetizer to pair with our 2020 Cabernet Franc.
Cabernet Franc Tasting Notes
The Cabernet Franc is a wonderful variation from its relative, Cabernet Sauvignon. It features a lighter body and lovely red fruit notes. Our 2020 Cabernet Franc is medium-bodied with notes of leather, cranberry, pomegranate, and red cherry. It has a good balance of earthy and fruit.
Cabernet Franc Food Pairing Suggestion
The food pairing I am sharing for this club wine was an accidental creation. I was preparing my husband's recent birthday dinner. Ethan had requested pizza with homemade dough, sauce, and all the toppings. I had prepped ingredients for his anchovy mushroom pizza (that was definitely for him), classic pepperoni, and then a pesto butternut squash pizza. The pesto butternut squash pizza was one I wanted to make as we had butternut from the garden. I started working with the pizza dough. It was oddly only enough for two pizzas. This wasn't normal and I wasn't sure where I tripped up in my recipe, but regardless, I had ingredients prepped for one too many pizzas. I then thought of the on-sale crescent dough we had picked up at the store the day before. I decided with just 20 minutes to pivot and I would make the pesto butternut squash into a crescent roll appetizer.
I rushed around the kitchen and made these fall crescent rolls. I pulled them out of the oven, plated them, threw some flower petals on top for garnish, and then Ethan pulled up the driveway. Phew. I knew I didn't need to be stressed, but I was trying to make it a special dinner.
While we waited for the pizzas to come off the smoker, we tried my in-a-pinch creation. It was simply delicious. As soon as I had a filled roll, I knew it was the dish to pair with the Cabernet Franc.
I hope this can help make your holiday table a little more fun and less stressful. You can make it as easy, or homemade as you would like!
Squash Crescent Rolls
INGREDIENTS
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed
1 tsp Dried Tarragon 1 tsp Dried Thyme 1/2 tsp or Salt
1/8 tsp or Black Pepper
Oil (Olive Oil, Avocado, Saf{lower)
1/2 Onion, chopped
1/2 cup Pesto
1 can Crescent Rolls
1/2 cup Romano Cheese, shredded
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix butternut squash in a bowl with preferred oil, dried tarragon. dried thyme. and 1/8 tsp of pepper, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Place on a baking pan or roasting pan covered in parchment (less clean up!). Pop in the oven for 20-30 minutes till tender. Once done, cool for 10 minutes.
2. In a saute pan, heat on low-medium with oil. After a minute or so, put your chopped onions in with a couple pinches of salt. Cook and cover the onions until softened and a little brown...cararmelized. Set aside.
3. Open the crescent rolls can. Separate and lay out on a cutting board.
4. Now it's time to assemble each of the rolls by spreading pesto, then adding onions, and next butternut squash.
5. Fold the dough over each other covering most of the filling. Then top with cheese.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes or unlil golden brown.
