Welcome to Cooking with CRU. There’s nothing quite like a homemade bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Today, we are going to spice up this classic dish with our merlot seasoning! Our CRU Merlot Spice was created to lift the juicy plum and chocolate covered cherry flavors our of our CRU Merlot and complement its silky tannins. The high acidity of the red-tomatoes mixed with the richness of the red meat is the perfect combination for our merlot. This wine will not try to steal the spotlight but will merely shine brightly on the classic dish and let its comforting flavors speak.

Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup of CRU Merlot Seasoning

CRU Olive Oil

2 lbs. of ground beef

2 Yellow Onions,dice into ¼ inch pieces

4 Cloves of Garlic, chop

2 Fresh Eggs

2 28oz cans of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes

1 Cup of Breadcrumbs 1 Cup of Parmigiano, shredded

5 tbsp. of Butter, cut into 5 pieces

1/2 cup of Water

Kosher Salt, pinch Fresh Pepper, dash

Merlot Tomato Sauce:

1. Coat a large saucepan with CRU olive oil, add ¾ of your onions and bring to a medium heat for 5-7 minutes. The onions should be translucent, soft and fragrant. Add about ¾ of your garlic and sauté down for another 2 minutes.

2. Add your 2 – 28oz whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes and let simmer. Once the onions and tomatoes have mixed well, add 4 tablespoons of your CRU Merlot Spice.

3. For a more rustic sauce like the one in this video, put sauce on a simmer and let it sit for 20 minutes. For a lighter, more juicy sauce, let simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Once the sauce had combined, use a fork to smash any large tomato pieces and serve.

Meatballs

1. Coat a saucepan with CRU olive oil, add ¼ of your onions and bring to a medium heat for 5-7 minutes. The onions should be translucent, soft and fragrant. Add about ¼ of your garlic and sauté down for another 2 minutes. Set this aside and let cool.

2. In a bowl combine meat, eggs, parmigiano, breadcrumbs and CRU Merlot seasonings. Combine these with your hands until the dry ingredients are well mixed. Throw in the onion and garlic mix well. Last, add a little water a time and work the mix over until ¼ cup of water is well integrated.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Shape the meat into golf ball sized meatballs.

5. Coat a large sauté pan with CRU olive oil and bring to a medium heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.

6. While the meatballs are in the oven, cook your pasta on the stove. Once your meatballs are done, add a couple of them to a pile of al dente spaghetti and top it with your delicious red sauce! Bon Appetit!

* * * * To purchase the CRU Merlot and CRU Merlot Spice, check out Vineyard29.com Email info@vineyard29.com * * *

The CRU Merlot Spice ingredients: Sage, Fennel, Chive, Cacao Nib, Espresso Salt, Red bell Pepper, and a proprietary blend of spices. The Merlot spices is delicious on ground meat pasta in red sauce, Lamb, grilled steak, roasted veggies and short ribs. Merlot is a great pairing when combined with the rich ingredients of the CRU spices, both will go great with a medium – full bodied wine and food pairing recipe.

To download this recipe, click here! Meatball recipe

Onions: By heating up the onions slowly we are releasing natural sugars that pair perfectly with lush low tannin red wines.

Parmigian cheese: the merlot has the acid element that helps cut through the fat in the meat balls, olive oil and parmigiano

Butter: butter is a perfect pillow of velvety richness that the merlot sinks into.

ABOUT CRU MERLOT: Bing cherry, juicy black plum with slight cedar and fresh tobacco notes along with dried lavender and cocoa powder. Medium to full bodied with red and black fruits, chocolate covered espresso bean, a velvety texture and structured tannin profile, this incredibly balanced and polished limited production CRU Napa Valley Merlot is thoroughly enjoyable upon release and will age beautifully for the next decade. The CRU merlot is 85% merlot, 13% cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Malbec. Barrel aged for 18 months in French oak. *

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