Japanese purple potato and red pepper dish might be the only vegetarian dish on your table, or it can be a perfect side for almost any meat entry you prepare.
We usually have several vegetarian nights during the week, and we don’t think it is a reason to skip wine tasting. All we need is a flavorful vegetarian entry to pair nicely with white and rose wines. Well, some red wines might pair very well with it, too!
Japanese Purple Potato
Sweet potato gains popularity these days as more and more people pay attention to the glycemic index of many ingredients, including white potatoes. We replaced starchy white potatoes with Japanese purple potatoes because we like the Japanese potatoes flavor profile. It combines well with many flavors, from herbal to dense animal proteins.
We pealed Japanese sweet potatoes, cut them into 2-inch chunks, and cooked them in salted water.
Separately, we placed several garlic cloves in olive oil and baked them to infuse the oil and change the garlic texture to mushy.
When the sweet potatoes were ready, we discarded most of the cooking liquid, leaving just enough to create a creamy texture of the mashed potatoes. Then poured garlic oil into the pot with potatoes and mashed it well to combine all ingredients.
Red Bell Peppers with Caramelized Onions
This side dish may go well as a topping with many vegetarian dishes, as well as meat or fish entrees.
We like to cut onions and peppers into strips for this dish. Softened strips of the vegetables make it easier for you to arrange them any way you want.
Choose spices wisely! Herbal spice combinations will go well with white and rose wines. We tend to use middle eastern spice blends to make the dish more suitable for red wines, too.
Caramelize white onions first, then add strips of red bell pepper and spices. Cover and satay the dish until pepper is soft but not breaking apart. Add salt and serve warm.
Green Paste
The green paste is a versatile ingredient you should always keep in your fridge. It is essential to crown our vegetarian delight because it is not only a flavor component – it also completes the visual composition of the dish.
Carnivore Notes
If you have no reason to avoid meat, consider adding chicken or beef broth instead of potato cooking water to the mashed potato dish. Also, meat stock will change the bell pepper dish flavor profile while turning it more towards a better red-wine-pairing dish.
Purple Potato, Red Pepper, and Wine Pairing
Initially, we created this vegetarian delight to pair it with rose wine. Any rose wine. Any time of the year. And it went well with Marsannay, as well as other rose wines.
Of course, we tried it with white wine, too.
Later, making more meatless breaks, we tried it with light and medium body red wines and found out that Alsace and Oregon pinot noir can also keep an excellent company to this dish. Also, you might find that flavorful 2017 Savoya Vineyard Pinot Noir pairs perfectly well.
Red bell peppers also suggest you might want to pair a Cabernet Franc with them or even Carmenere. We certainly hope you let us know what pairing worked for you! Meanwhile, we will keep tasting! Cheers!