Marsala Sauce With Mavrodaphne Wine

Jenny Skrapaliori-Graves | Last Updated: November 16, 2023

A bowl with marsalla sauce with mushrooms and twigs of thyme on top.

This Marsala sauce with Mavrodaphne wine is delicious with chicken, steak, pork steaks, and roasts. Made with sweet Greek Mavrodaphne wine, it is simple, velvety, and full of flavor.

If you love this Marsala Sauce With Mavrodaphne Wine, you will also love this Greek Beef Stew With Eggplant, Stifado-Red Wine Beef Stew, & Kokkinisto-Braised Beef in Red Sauce!

Overview

Why this recipe sings

This recipe is my Greek version of a marsala sauce.

Marsala sauce is made with marsala wine from Sicily. A well-known recipe is Chicken marsala, an Italian-American dish popular in the USA but not Italy. Interesting trivia: The origins of marsala sauce can be traced back to the early 1800s, when French chefs were introduced into high Sicilian culture. Queen Maria Carolina of Naples and Sicily, the sister of Marie Antoinette, imported these chefs because she believed that the local cuisine was not sophisticated enough for her court.

This recipe uses sweet Greek Mavrodaphne and dry red wine instead of the dry, sweet Sicilian marsala wine. In Greece’s Peloponnese region, Mavrodaphne is a type of red wine grape that is well-known for its ability to produce sweet dessert wine. Despite this, it can also be utilized to create dry wines. The name “black laurel” is the Greek translation of Mavrodaphne, and it may be referred to by other names such as Mavrodaphni or Mavrodafni.

The best mavrodaphne wine comes from Pátras*, in the Achaia region of Greece in the Peloponnese. Mavrodaphne of Pátras is a dark wine with an almost opaque purple-brown color. It has notes of caramel, chocolate, coffee, and dried fruits like raisins and plums. The other ingredients are similar to the original marsala sauce. Mushrooms, butter, garlic, onion (instead of shallots), chicken broth, dry red wine and sweet Mavrodaphne wine create this delicious sauce.

It is sweet, dark, and has complex flavors. It is excellent over a steak or chicken. I love serving it as a side dish for Christmas. It pairs well with roasted chicken, pork roast, or grilled vegetables.

*Source: Wineenthusiast.com

Here is what you need

A bottle of dry red wine, a bottle of Mavrodaphne wine, a bowl with mushrooms, an onion, a garlic head, and small bowls with sea salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, broth and sprigs of fresh thyme on a wooden board.

Mushrooms.
Onion and garlic.
Mavrodaphne wine
Dry red wine To balance the intense sweet notes of Mavrodaphne. Always cook with a wine you would happily drink.
Chicken broth. Or vegetable.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Butter.
Fresh thyme sprigs. I put a couple in the sauce at the last minute. I also love a sprinkle of thyme leaves for serving.
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

How to make this marsala sauce

Broth simmering in a pot. — Pour the chicken broth into a saucepan and let it simmer until it is reduced to ¼ of the original volume.

Sliced mushrooms sauteing in a skillet. — Place a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, and saute the mushrooms until golden brown.

Sliced mushrooms, diced onions and garlic sauteing in a skillet. — Lower the heat, add the onion, and saute until caramelized for about 4 to 5 minutes; add the garlic and stir.

Mushrooms in red wine sauce in a skillet. — When the garlic is fragrant, pour the mavrodaphne and dry red wine, and simmer until the liquids are reduced to about one-third.
Add the condensed chicken stock and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.

Mushrooms in red wine sauce with butter and a wooden spoon in a skillet. — Stir the butter in the sauce.

Mushrooms and fresh tyme sprigs in red wine sauce in a skillet. — Add the fresh thyme herbs and stir. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. keep the sauce warm until serving.

A bowl on a plate with marsalla sauce with mushrooms and twigs of thyme on top. A cloth napkin is under the plate, at the back, is a small container with pepper and sea salt.

With what to serve this marsala sauce

Our marsala sauce with mavrodaphne wine is versatile and goes well with various dishes. It is wonderful with roasted turkey, chicken, a fillet mignon, and pork chops. Additionally, marsala sauce is delicious over mashed potatoes and rice.

Thank you to yiannisloukakos.com for the inspiration for this recipe.