I'd been itching to try this recipe since it came out in October's Gourmet . I am a sucker for alchemy cuisine, anything that rises or changes color or shape and turns into something else, so the idea of purple wine-soaked spaghetti thrilled me. This recipe is basically a version of my favorite broccoli and ziti standby, only with the addition of red wine. I had assumed before reading the recipe that the noodles would be boiled in the wine but it was actually a process that involved parboiling both the pasta and the broccoli.

The wine is added to the partially-cooked pasta. The fun part is watching it slowly change color as you boil it. The recipe calls for a red zinfandel, and you could probably use any red, but I think a heavier wine like a zinfandel or a cabernet sauvignon adds a nice purple hue. I was curious to see if it would taste wine-heavy. It definitely had a wine taste although it wasn't overpowering.

Overall I'm not sure if it added enough bang for my buck to cook pasta this way again, but it was fun for novelty's sake. One caveat to those who are making this recipe is to have extra wine on hand if you want to recreate the deep purple shown in the Gourmet article. It's definitely festive for the holidays.

Spirited Cooking Day is upon us, carefully worked up to coincide with the Winter Solstice. We're still undergoing some site maintenance, but we have been slaving over several hot stoves to bring you the most tipsy collection of recipes and articles possible.

We'll have comments working soon, and until they come up, if you've prepared a post for our contest, follow this link to leave us "tips" with your url. You can also upload photos to our flickr photo pool (even if you don't have a blog where you've described your creation), tagged with "spiritedcooking". We'll select winners in three drunken categories to receive an assortment of Dagoba organic chocolate bars, including two bars which were named best in category by the San Francisco Chronicle, plus the Conacado (73%) Single origin Dominican; the New Moon (74%) pure bittersweet bar; and the Eclipse (87%) darkest bar in the collection.

Slashfood's hittin' the sauce this Wednesday with Spirited Cooking, our next theme day. Get ready for a whole day of posts and recipes about cooking with beer, wine and spirits. From recipes for bourbon balls and penne alla vodka to discussions about cooking wine, Slashfood will have a real liquid lunch. As always, we also want to see what's going on in your kitchen. Comment with your own recipes and blog posts, and show us what you're working with by posting to our Flickr photo pool. Update: tag those photos with "spiritedcooking." Pop your cork and belly up to the table on Wednesday, December 21, for Slashfood's Spirited Cooking.