Baked Spaghetti Squash and Murphy Goode Pinot Noir- A Perfect Pairing

I love the beginning of a year- mainly because it represents a chance to start over and explore new beginnings and new experiences… And explore new recipes!

Murphy-Goode Winery was kind enough to send a bottle of their Pinot Noir for me to try, and I thought it would pair perfectly with the spaghetti squash dish I was making that day.

I love spaghetti squash because it looks like pasta, but is a vegetable and is chock full of nutrients and fiber. Plus, you can cover it with any sort of pasta sauce, cheese and it can turn into your favorite pasta dish, minus all of the calories and carbs.

I generally cook my spaghetti squash with tomatoes, basil and cheese, but today I decided to prepare things a little differently and picked up some ricotta, sage and pine nuts.

The first thing I did was bake the squash for an hour at 425- and then I scooped it out! I removed the seeds and put it all in a baking dish with some toasted pine nuts.

Then, I sautéed some sage leaves in olive oil for 5-6 minutes, until they got crispy, along with a couple chopped cloves of garlic.

I then added about 3/4 cup of fresh ricotta, and mixed it all together and added some salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, I poured a glass of the Murphy-Goode Pinot and my family and I sipped it slowly along with bits of the spaghetti squash. It was rich, and fairly bold for a pinot noir- it started off with hints of cherry and vanilla, and had hints of sage and spice.

It was a perfect pairing for the sage and ricotta rich spaghetti squash dish and my family devoured it!