Hi all,
I recently came across a recipe that I wish to try for a lentil bolognese. I’m excited to try it as I’ve been trying to find a recipe I can use my red lentils with, but I’m curious about one thing both with this recipe, and recipes in general.
This recipe calls for the pan to be deglazed with red wine. This is something I’ve seen before in other recipes, though this recipe is the first of which I’m taking an interest in exploring. I’m personally fine with regular red wine, but my concern is that I have a friend who is incredibly cautious with alcohol, and says she’d refuse to eat things if they had alcoholic ingredients.
Putting aside my personal thoughts about that, I was curious if using a non-alcoholic wine would work just as well, or if the alcohol adds certain properties to the wine that make it function better as an ingredient or for deglazing. I’m mainly curious as I hope to invite friends over for dinner in the future, and want to make accommodations where possible, especially if it’s as easy as simply buying a slightly different ingredient.
Thanks in advance!
I say don’t use NA wine, as it’s usually pretty low quality and might negatively affect the flavor. Use a good vinegar and water. My sister who is sober does a 3:1 water to vinegar ratio.
So if the recipe calls for a cup of red wine to de-glaze, use 1/4 cup red wine vinegar mixed with 3/4 cup water(or stock for even more flavor). I’ve tried several of these recipes and it’s basically imperceptible.