22 February 2008

FFF - I butchered this recipe

and wow, was it tasty! Though it did nothing to prevent the clogging of my arteries, what a way to go.

The original recipe was for Linguini with Spinach and Gorgonzola and came from the one cookbook my husband brought with him when he left England. My version was made with three cheese tortellini instead of linguini. I also added garlic and mushrooms. AND BACON!!! 

I am not at all experienced in the fine craft of recipe writing. I'm an improviser (when I am not baking) so here's what I did, aside from not telling the cardiologist:

Put some water on to boil for the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, do the following.

Add a little olive oil to a saute pan. Saute a few cloves of sliced garlic for about 30 seconds, then add some sliced mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms start to give up their liquid. When that happens, turn the heat down and add about half a bag of fresh baby spinach. Stir and put the cover on the pan. Turn the heat off. The spinach will wilt. Then add some chopped bacon. I used about 5 strips. [I don't usually have large packages of bacon in the fridge. I take the lazy route. I buy the frozen pre-cooked stuff that allows me to pull out just a few pieces as needed. Sue me. If you were to do this with proper bacon you would cook it first, remove it from the pan, then add the garlic and mushrooms to the bacon drippings. Omit the olive oil. Chop the bacon and add it back to the pan as described.]

In another little saucepan, combine about half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of butter, and some gorgonzola. I used about a third of a pound. The recipe I had called for more but what I used was plenty. This is where you might want to seriously muck with proportions. I winged it last night and it was just right. When everything is melted and a little thicker than the milk alone add a few grinds of fresh nutmeg, then add the sauce to the saute pan.

Drain the pasta and add it to the saute pan (or add the contents of the saute pan to the pasta...whatever works best). Serve immediately.

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