Are you ever looking for a use for that red wine in your fridge?  You know… the one that didn’t taste quite the way you expected when you brought it home?  I’m sure it doesn’t happen often, but instead of dumping it down the drain, try using it to make a lovely, simple supper for two.

Starting with a large, high sided skillet, heat 2 cups of red wine, 2 cups of water, a half box of spaghetti (half pound total… don’t use angel hair pasta on this one, but you could use linguine if you prefer) and a few pinches of salt.  Heat to boiling and stir occasionally, so the pasta doesn’t stick together.  Cook until pasta is cooked to your liking and most of the liquid has been absorbed or cooked off. Remove from the heat but don’t drain

While the pasta is cooking, I typically will brown up some thin pieces of chicken – tenders, sliced, make a great addition.  If you like, feel free to add some thin sliced onions to the chicken just to add flavor.  If you would prefer to make this more of a vegetarian meal, browning some mushrooms or a mix of veggies would work well here as well.  Add to pasta and lightly toss.

To finish the dish, stir in a thumb of butter (ends up being around 1T, but it looks like the length of a thumb) and some cracked pepper.  I like to add grated cheese (romano or parmesan work well here) at the end to add a finishing touch.

The pasta will be pink, so don’t expect this to be an especially “manly” dish, but the taste should make everyone happy.  It’s simple, pretty, and fairly quick & painless.  This is one recipe to keep on hand for one of those “I need to make dinner in a hurry” nights…