Farfalle with Creamy Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce

With the warm weather I’ve been grilling quite a bit. Nothing I’ve conquered up has been worthy of writing about. I did sweet Turkey sausage and corn on the barbie, Tilipia for fish tacos and that’s about it. For the fish, I just spray a sheet of tin foil with PAM, lay the fish on it and then on the grill, med-low, 3 minutes per side. I salt and pepper the fish first. Then add to warm tortilla’s with all your favorite taco toppings – I love guacamole and peach salsa! So, on to the pasta…

To note before I type the recipe out, I did not add the mushrooms TO the sauce, we had them on the side b/c the children are picky about what is IN their pasta sauce! I also did not have enough Gorgonzola cheese, so I mixed it with a bit of Goat cheese, which also melts nicely. I also cut the recipe in half for my small family and we still had left overs.

On to the recipe! As most of my recipes… courtesy of Giada.

2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk (I used 2%) at room temp
5 oz Gorgonzola cheese, cubed
salt and pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb mushrooms (I used Cremini…. you can also use Shitake)
1 lb farfalle pasta
Optional: peas or spinach

Melt the butter over medium heat, when it starts to sizzle, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add all the milk and whisk until smooth. Bring sauce to a simmer, simmer 2 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Add the Gorgonzola and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in peas. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Farfalle and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain. Transfer pasta to large bowl and add the Gorgonzola sauce and mushroom mixture. Toss to coat.

Pasta alla Me

I’m getting pretty confident in my pasta making skills. I mean, how hard is pasta really? The standard Macaroni and cheese from a box is pretty easy to follow. Then there is the next step up, spaghetti. So, how does one make a more gourmet pasta? Try this on for size:

Pasta alla Me (yep, that’s Me as in your blog owner)

Half a box of your favorite noodles, I used tri-colored Fiori
15 oz Marscapone cheese
2 fresh zucchini, sliced in wedges
3 slices of Prosciutto, cut into bites
crumbled goat cheese to top
kosher salt, pepper
olive oil
1 lb of Chicken

Boil noodles in salted water, drain reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water
saute Chicken in Olive Oil until cooked
let Zucchini soak in drizzled Olive Oil, pepper and kosher salt
cut Chicken into bite size pieces and saute with Zucchini for 2 minutes
add pasta water and Marscapone cheese until dissolves into a light sauce.
Mix with pasta and prosciutto.
Top each bowl with fresh sliced tomatoes and goat cheese, if desired.

Pretty simple and very tasty. I hope you like it!