Say Sangria!

It's an Italian Sunday dinner at my house tonight--and since we're relaxing after a long week, that means take-out from Metro Pizza. You can pick up a Ranch Chicken Salad, a Baked Ziti pasta, or even a Flying Piggle pizza of BBQ pork and butter pickles (check out their enticing menu), but you just can't take home their Sangria. So I thought for tonight, and for my mom especially, I'd make my own.

I remembered a recent e-mail received from another restaurant--Mimi's Cafe--ever since I joined their eClub. In the message, their Chef Adam offered summer party tips including a recipe for Sangria that provides a whole serving of fruit in the dish! Healthy fruit + red wine + just a bit of sweetness sounded like a winner in my book.

To put my own twist on it, I used a 2007 Beaujolais-Villages red wine we had around the house instead of their suggested Pinot Noir (I know nothing about wine, but mine looked nice), and a glass bottle of Sprite from Mexico (since they use sugar cane to sweeten their soda instead of the processed High Fructose Corn Syrup). I also didn't cut my fruit slices in half, preferring the look of whole orange, lemon, and lime circles in my pitcher for presentation.

All the ingredients you need!

 
The resulting recipe for Sangria emerged:

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup lemonade
1/2 cup orange juice
1 bottle (8.45 oz.) sparkling water (I used San Pellegrino)
1 bottle (12 oz.) Sprite
2 oranges, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
4 medium-sized strawberries, sliced

Directions:

1.) In a large bowl, whisk the wine, sugar, lemonade, and orange juice together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the sparkling water and Sprite and then stir again.

2.) Place the slices of fruit at the bottom of a large glass pitcher (Chef Adam suggests a 6-quart container), then pour the wine mixture in and stir.

3.) Refrigerate the pitcher until ready to serve. Stir once before pouring (I recommend placing a few slices of fruit in your glass first and then pouring the Sangria on top) and enjoy!

In Chef Adam's recipe, the Sangria needs to refrigerate at least four hours or even overnight to intensify the fruit flavors. Ours lasted only as long as it took for my dad to pick up the pizza (about an hour, give or take). Still, there were no complaints at our dinner table!

Just thought I'd note here that, no, Sangria is not a baked good, but this recipe is still short, sweet, and decadent, with a healthy kick of fruit that can be nibbled on after the Sangria's all gone. Yes, I just finished watching Food Network Star and am probably channeling Giada.

Buon appetito!