Gorgonzola Pasta
April 18th 2009 19:30
Gorgonzola Cheese - a Goddess of Cheese
Wanda and I love the same cheeses. I've introduced her to a few she'd never heard of before. Fresh Mexican Queso cheese not the melted yellow/orange stuff in Restaurants, but the good white cheese in Mexican groceries, Edam, and most importantly Gorgonzola. My family and I love this cheese, but it is almost impossible to find around here. We were always able to get it in Georgetown, that's the Texas one, when my folks lived there, but in NE Texas, not so easy. So when Wanda moved south and I discovered there was a H.E.B. Grocery nearby and I was able to get Gorgonzola, yeah time! Wanda had never had it but as a thank you for helping her move she bought me a bunch of cheeses, Gorgonzola being one of them. I gave her a taste and it was love at first bite.
After that I promised that next time I was down there I'd make a pasta dish using Gorgonzola, one that is part a recipe that I'd used before and part one I just made up, sort of, mostly. Well on Tuesday of this week, our last night visiting I made the pasta I'd promised. Jerry, of course, did not eat the one made with Gorgonzola, but I adapted the basic sauce for him.
Here's what I did, remember Wanda is gluten intolerant so I used rice pasta, and was surprised at how good and easy to cook it was.
Basics, serves four people easily (or three if one is Jerry, leaving a little left over):
1 Red bell pepper, cut in ¼” dice
1 Yellow bell pepper, cut in ¼” dice
1 Green bell pepper cut in ¼” dice
(note you can cut the peppers in ½” dice if you like bigger pieces, I do)
1 medium onion, diced
2 to 6 cloves garlic* minced (I actually used more but then a lot of people don't like garlic and don't cook with it properly, see below)
2 lbs cherry tomatoes, or 1 ½ lb Roma tomatoes, cut cherry tomatoes in half; Romas in quarters
4 to 6 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled of course
½ cup white wine (add more as needed)
olive oil – 2 – 4 tbls
2 tbls butter
oregano
basil
sage
thyme
red pepper flakes, optional
8 ounces penne pasta (or your favorite)
In a large pasta pot start 6 cups of salted water to boiling (do not add oil unless using rice pasta)
In a large saute skillet heat 2 tbls olive oil with one tbl butter until hot, add onion and cook until translucent and it starts to turn light brown add ½ the garlic and continue cooking until the onion is starting to carmelize.
Add peppers all at once, continue to cook until they are fork tender but not soft. Add ½ to 1 tsp oregano and basil, add ¼ tsp ground sage and thyme. Add tomatoes, the rest of the garlic and ½ cup white wine (note wine should be one you would drink). Salt and pepper to taste, do not over salt since the pasta is cooking in salted water.
When you add the peppers to the skillet it is time to add the pasta to the boiling water, depending on the type of pasta you are using. The sauce won't take more than five to seven minutes to finish at this point.
Cover the sauce while the pasta cooks.
Just before the pasta is finished, add the remaining tablespoon to the sauce, stirring, do not let the butter break. Turn off the heat.
Drain the pasta, do not rinse.
If you don't like Gorgonzola the sauce can be served at this point as it is. If you do, add the Gorgonzola and stir until melted, turn heat back on if necessary to finish melting the cheese.
Pour pasta into large serving bowl, add sauce and stir. Add a drizzle of olive oil over the top for added flavor.
*Garlic note: the later you add the garlic the more garlic flavor you will add to your sauce. Cooked garlic isn't as strong in flavor as raw, so the more lightly cooked the more flavor, hence adding it in two parts.
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