I was really struggling to come up with something to make for this week’s winesday. My problem lately is that, while I really want to try some new red wines, every time I think of a food that I’m craving, it is a better match with white wine. This makes sense since my diet consists mainly of seafood and veggies with a heavy emphasis on Asian cuisine. I don’t eat red meat or much cheese, both of which are ideal matches with red wines. As I was mulling over the possibility of making yet another pizza or tomato sauce based dinner, my mom called to enthusiastically report about a great new dish that she had tried: Baked Polenta with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola. Hey, hearty mushrooms and strong cheese…now, that sounds like a perfect match for a nice red wine. How serendipitous!

In this easy dish, polenta is mixed with cream cheese and gorgonzola cheese making it super creamy. It is then topped with sauteed mushrooms and more gorgonzola and baked in the oven until the cheese on top is melted. It was completely delicious. Someone is always claiming that this or that is comfort food, but this really was the ultimate in comfort food. The earthy mushrooms add a nice contrasting flavor and texture. And the cheese…well, maybe it’s because I don’t eat cheese very often but it was just so darn good. I served the polenta with garlicky rapini and spicy Cascioppo Brothers Italian sausage for Robert.

To go with my polenta, I picked up a bottle of Bric Dei Banditi 2000 Barbera d’Asti. Barbera hails from the Piedmont region of Italy. Sadly for it, Barbera is most well-known for playing second fiddle to the more famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines from that area. Whereas Barolo is something to be saved for a special occasion, Barbera has long been thought of as generic table wine. More recently, however, it is starting earn some well-deserved attention and respect. The Bric Dei Banditi Barbera was deep and fruity without a lot of tannins. While not nearly as acidic as a Chianti, it still had enough acid to pair well with food. The slight smokiness in this wine went exceptionally well with the gorgonzola in the polenta. Very tasty!