This recipe comes from “Barefoot Contessa Foolproof,” pg. 156.
The third and final recipe I made last Friday was a pasta dish! This served as the main course meal and was paired with recipe #11 (read the post here).
This recipe comes from Foolproof which, prior to the start of this project, was the cookbook I cooked out of most. I’m not really sure why, it just kind of happened that way.
Anyway, Straw & Hay with Gorgonzola is a dish that I’ve been wanted to make for a while. And let me tell you: it did not disappoint. This recipe is essentially a cream sauce-based pasta dish. But, I found it to be lighter and more flavorful than a traditional Alfredo style sauce.
The layers of flavor built into the sauce are what really make it stand out, in my opinion. In earlier recipes, I was using pancetta to add flavor but this one called for prosciutto. I have to say, I like pancetta better. It’s easier to work it and has more body to the taste than prosciutto. Another layer of flavor was basil that is added at the end, just before serving.
Unfortunately, I forgot to buy basil at the store. And now that we’re in October, all the herbs I had growing are dead. To compensate, I mixed in some dried basil. It, of course, didn’t do it justice. But it’s all I had to work with.
One of the highlights of this dish is gorgonzola used. Up until me making this recipe, I didn’t even know there were two types of gorgonzola! Did you? Apparently, there’s a creamy kind known as dolce. This is what is used in this recipe. The other kind, mountain is more peppery and crumbly. The dolce gorgonzola melted quickly and when mixed with the parmesan resulted in a flavorful sauce that could easily be used for other dishes.
Overall, this was one of the easier recipes that I made so far doing this project. I made the sauce while the pasta cooked, married the two and then served it with the salad.
Once again, I do not have pictures of the finished product. I’m still getting used to taking photos while I’m cooking and before I eat. Sometimes I forget that I’m doing all of this for the blog.
Until next time, readers. . . . . .
