Yesterday Sandi made Zabaglione – that wonder frothy Italian concoction of cooked egg yolks, sugar, and wine that is slowly cooked and whipped into a frenzy. For my post today I got to make a similar recipe but mine was made with red wine.
Zabaglione is generally served warm, this one is not. All you need to do is follow the exact same recipe for the Zabaglione but instead of adding marsala you add 1 cup of full-bodied red wine. Marcella suggested a Barolo but the ones I had in my wine cellar were all over $ 100 so I couldn’t quite bring myself around to that – instead I used a wonderful Barbaresco.
Normally zabaglione is made in a copper pot. Marcella suggests using a double boiler for those of us who aren’t used to controlling this delicate cooking process. Then there are those of us who don’t even own a double boiler (have you noticed how rare it is to find a decent set of cookware that includes a double boiler? It is as if the manufacturers are conspiring to ensure that certain cooking procedures die out in our era of speed, simplicity, and pre-fab food – porca miseria) .
Anyway, I digress. This was not meant as a rant about Calphalon. Back to the task at hand.
Not having a copper pot nor a double boiler I used the same technique as Sandi – a metal bowl over a pot of gently boiling water. It wasn’t ideal to be sure, but it worked.
We really enjoyed this dessert and I’ll be making it again. The wine infused the custard-like froth with a wonderful and most-welcome flavour. I can see why Italians often serve zabaglione as a strength-building tonic for someone suffering from a cold or other ailment. A bowl of this would sure as hell perk me up right away!