Over the past two months, Jeff has been going through our old cooking magazines and cutting out recipes. Last week, he came across this recipe in a 2007 Gourmet magazine. The Three Cheese and Mushroom Orecchiette looked like a quick recipe which we could serve as a one dish meal.
The dish was easy to prepare and was ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. I'm not a big "blue cheese" fan and wasn't sure if I was going to like the dish. I didn't tell anyone there was blue cheese in it because I was afraid of the "I don't like that."
The meal was good. There was a blue cheese flavor which came through in the cheese sauce, but it blended well with the peas and mushrooms. The more I ate it, the more I liked the three cheese blend. My kids didn't utter a word and went back for seconds.
If you are looking for a twist on an alfredo sauce recipe, this is worth adding to your recipe file.
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Cook pasta in boiling salted water in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot according to package directions. Four minutes before pasta is done, add peas. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain pasta with peas in a colander.
While pasta cooks, heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté mushrooms with salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until any liquid they give off is evaporated and mushrooms are golden, about 4 minutes. Add cream and reserved cooking water and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and stir in cheeses until sauce is fairly smooth. Add hot pasta and peas and stir until coated with sauce. Serve sprinkled with chives.