Cooking with red wine, but not red meat

March 31, 2023 11:44 AM

What are some recipes that I can cook to use up opened bottles of red wine? Difficulty level: No red meat.

I'm looking for recipes that use red wine and are designed for other protein options, not so much "substitute ground turkey for the beef." Poultry, fish, tofu, and tempeh are good. Dietary restrictions are kosher and low-FODMAP. The recipe shouldn't rely too much on garlic, onions or their relatives (including leeks and shallots), mushrooms, or beans. Stews and soups preferred. I'm a decent cook and generally OK with figuring out substitutions, but would rather start off with something where I don't have to swap out all the major ingredients.

posted by expialidocious to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Coq au vin, cutting down on the onions and garlic as preferred, and using turkey bacon or dropping the bacon completely?
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:48 AM on March 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

You can poach pears in red wine, as a dessert
posted by Lycaste at 12:00 PM on March 31, 2023 [7 favorites]

If mushrooms are okay, doing button or bella mushrooms in vegetable stock and red wine, served over potatoes is really good.
posted by rhymedirective at 12:07 PM on March 31, 2023 [10 favorites]

The first thing that came to mind was tuna au poivre with red wine sauce. It’s kind of a substitution and not a soup or stew, but it’s extremely delicious and straightforward. You don’t need to use all the spices in the recipe if you don’t want to - black pepper is beautifully complex on its own. You can use way less shallots in the sauce or even nix them entirely, add some of the spices from the rub to the sauce instead, etc. It’s flexible and feels so special.

There are a billion recipes for cioppinno. It’s a celebratory seafood stew with a tomato and wine sauce. I’ve had it made with both white and red wines. Use seafood that works nicely with red wine, like salmon, mussels, mackerel, black cod. The depth of flavor in the red wine can compensate for using fewer alliums in the base of the stew, although you’ll want to use at least some. Eat the yummiest bread you can with it.
posted by Mizu at 12:09 PM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: My understanding is that some amount of lentils are OK for low-FODMAP. The Food52 red wine braised lentils is a favorite of mine (and my guests) and would be fine without the onion. I might add some additional fresh herbs in their place.

If you make red pasta sauces, throwing some red wine into them is nice, particularly with something like a long cooked dutch oven version (or the almost and good much faster pressure cooker ones). Or more or less the same thing as a soup.

I also use it in root vegetable stews.

Pomegranate or orange combined with red wine is found in quite a few Jewish chicken stews.

It's often something you want a little bit of. If you have freezer space, you can reduce it (possibly with herbs in it) and freeze it in an ice cube maker, and then throw a block or two into future cooking projects to kick them up a little.
posted by Candleman at 12:38 PM on March 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

Oh, also risotto. I know you want relatively simple meals and risotto has the reputation of being a lot of work. The Serious Eats one-stir recipe works well without a lot of effort and I've done no-stir pressure cooker versions that turned out good as well with even less effort.
posted by Candleman at 12:40 PM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Candleman beat me to it, but yes, mushroom risotto. Yum! Lots of recipes out there, but here's one. And yeah, ignore all the handwringing about the patience needed to make risotto. I have no patience at all, take shortcuts, and my risottos always come out great.
posted by swheatie at 12:45 PM on March 31, 2023

Oeufs en Meurette
posted by zamboni at 12:56 PM on March 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

You can also make your own vinegar and just top up your jar with wine from bottles opened for other reasons, then you can use it for all manner of things.
posted by urbanlenny at 1:11 PM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Combine with tomato paste and reduce as part of a rich pasta sauce.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:23 PM on March 31, 2023

If there's a dairy substitute that is OK to use, you absolutely can make red wine 'cream' sauce for chicken. I'm 85% sure I've made what is basically this red wine cream sauce chicken with nut milk because of what I normally keep in the house. I don't use mushrooms but I do use pine nuts.
posted by cobaltnine at 1:39 PM on March 31, 2023

Back in the day, I very often used red wine in minestrone. I don't remember why I stopped, it was good, and the color was beautiful. To me, a minestrone is a soup made out of whatever is available in the season, finely diced and with the vegetables added in order of softness. So first you gently cook a soffritto, traditionally with onion, carrot and celery in olive oil. You can skip the onion and use bell pepper instead, I wouldn't think of that as a substitution. When the soffritto has been gently cooked so the vegetables are al dente, add chopped seasonal vegetables. Right now, I have seen some fennel, and various brassica, let them soften too, then add a glass of red wine. Let it simmer till the alcohol smell has evaporated. Add a tin of crushed tomatoes, then salt, pepper and thyme, perhaps a bit of oregano too. Then add chicken stock. Let simmer for 20 minutes, then add small pasta. When the pasta are ready, the soup is ready to serve, with a good sprinkling of parsley and grated hard cheese.

Proportions are for each very generous serving: one half cup of each veg to one half cup of wine, half a tin of tomatoes and half a liter of stock. Be careful with the pasta, go with a tablespoon pr. serving. The magic is in the fine dice, it takes some time, but not much.

This is a very filling and healthy meal, but you can add in cooked shredded chicken with the pasta if you like. Then obviously no cheese.

This reminds me of a pasta dish I once had at a fine dining restaurant and often reproduce. It was basically made from a soffritto of carrot, celery and red bell pepper, first gently cooked in olive oil, seasoned, and then stewed in wine till the wine is almost reduced to a glaze. Toss with fresh fettuccine or similar pasta and a bit of the pasta water. It looks too simple to be true, but is amazing. Be careful not to oversalt, like I did just the other day, because the sauce reduces so much.

Can you get/would you eat game fowl? Because marinating game in a red wine marinade is good. It can work with goose as well. This is not a recipe I have tried, but it is basically what I would do, both with wild and tame waterfowl. I'd serve with a salad of frisé, sliced orange, sliced apple, a mustard vinaigrette and a few croutons.
posted by mumimor at 1:59 PM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Red wine reductions are good drizzled over most things.
posted by mmascolino at 2:24 PM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mushroom Bourginon uses 1.5 cups. (gift link from NYtimes cooking)

Edit - sorry, I missed the part about mushrooms not being preferred.
posted by hydra77 at 3:01 PM on March 31, 2023

I make "grown-up s'mores" with biscotti, marshmallow fluff, and a cabernet/dark chocolate sauce. Dip the biscotti in the marshmallow fluff, dunk it in chocolate sauce, nom. Best if everyone has their own dipping cups.
posted by xedrik at 4:34 PM on March 31, 2023

Coq au vin
I add red wine to tomato sauce for pasta, along with Italian sausage; chicken Italian sausage works well.
You can freeze it to use later.
posted by theora55 at 8:50 AM on April 1, 2023