Pasta with creamy gorgonzola sauce

Living in the Chicago metropolitan area, offers a choice of many specialty ingredients, not easily found in other places, because of the rich ethnic variety here. Even in the suburbs, there are many stores where you’ll hear several different languages on every visit. 

I make a lot of pastas with a cream sauce, many with cheese as a primary ingredient. I’ve made gorgonzola cheese sauce many times. But it reached a different level when I used a good imported Italian gorgonzola. That happened when I was in an old Italian neighborhood on the north side of the city. I had just finished meeting with a customer, and I was driving down Harlem Avenue, when I saw this little grocery and I had to stop in. I was the only customer not conducting my business in Italian (or at least with an Italian accent). 

I checked out the deli counter and saw they had an assortment of meats, most imported from Italy. The smells in the store were amazing. Anyways, I saw that they had imported gorgonzola in their deli case and I couldn’t resist. That night I added this to my menu and it was a big hit. 

Remember, if you’re worried about the fat and the cholesterol, that all the butter and cream add to this recipe, don’t worry. That’s what cholesterol medicine is for. A meal like this, once in a while, will help keep the medicine from getting lazy. I exercise mine frequently! 

1 lb. corkscrew pasta

1/2 lb. of imported Italian gorgonzola cheese

2 shallots, finely minced

2/3 cup of milk

1 stick of butter

2 8 oz. cartons of whipping cream

1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated

Preparation

Put some pasta water on to boil. Meanwhile, heat a cast iron skillet. Melt the butter and then add the shallots and gently cook until softened. Add the gorgonzola and very carefully melt the cheese. Add the milk and stir until well mixed and simmering. 

Add the whipping cream to the sauce and stir until hot. Cook the pasta until it is perfectly al dente (that’s Italian for don’t cook the be-jeepers out of it). Drain the pasta and place it in a bowl. Toss the sauce and the grated parmesan with the pasta until well mixed and then serve immediately. It is important that you toss the pasta just before serving the meal, because it needs to be served right away. 

Serving

This pasta goes real well with steaks, charred rare, sautéed spinach, garlic bread and the best Cabernet Sauvignon you can afford. After dinner, an expresso is nice. 

Just don’t tell your physician about this particular dinner, if you do, you’ll get one of those lectures.