Gorgonzola and peas in penne pasta - winter home cooking for the holidays

Gorgonzola and peas in penne pasta - winter home cooking for the holidays · Monday January 3, 2022 by colin newell

We have some fav local eateries in Victoria like Cafe Brio – Il Covo Trattoria and Zambri’s – they are hard to beat for pure romance on date night. We have been doing a date night for 25+ years and put it down to the love for each other, the love of food and wine or the lack of children — I don’t know. It is a recipe that works for us.

And in this classic and massively tasty recipe (tried here for the first time!) we venture into the world of creamy, herbaceous, lightly seasoned and hugely tasty!

Sidebar on Gorgonzola over here – 100% Worth your time.

The basics

Pasta: We used Penne for this recipe, a tubular pasta that the creamy gorgonzola sauce clings to.
Oil and butter: For cooking. You can just use oil, but butter adds a nice richness.
Onion and garlic: For a nice base layer of flavour. Dice finely so that it mixes in well with the sauce.
Gorgonzola: This is a soft and creamy Italian blue cheese. It is milder in flavor than a hard blue cheese.
Whipping Cream: Use a heavy or whipping thick cream for a thick and rich sauce.
Peas: They add a nutty and herbaceous tang to the dish – as well as fresh parsley
Optional: Walnuts: Walnuts add a great flavor and texture to this pasta recipe, as well as some plant based protein.

Exact Ingredients

6 ounces Penne dried pasta
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 small onion finely diced
2 garlic cloves minced
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 ounces gorgonzola (85g)
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
Optional – 1 cup walnut pieces (125g)
1 cup green peas
Fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions.
Cook the peas in the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking – yes, in the pasts pot! Drain and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, you can start on the blue cheese sauce.
Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet on pot on a medium high heat.
Add in the onion and cook til soft.
Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add in the salt and pepper, pour in the cream and crumble in the gorgonzola.
Simmer at a very low heat, for around 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened.
Add the cooked pasta (and peas) and optional walnuts to the sauce. Toss to combine and coat the pasta.
Serve with a garnish of fresh parsley and serve with some of my legendary focaccia bread

Colin Newell is a Victoria area resident and food writer. His blogs go back to 2007 and as always, this food blog has no click bait, crap, ads or amazon links. We respect our readers so we only offer what you are looking for – recipes and no B.S.