Tasty Tuesdays: Gorgonzola, Spinach, & Toasted Walnut Rigatoni

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

I hope your week is off to a great start.  We are finally enjoying warm weather again here in Michigan - it feels great!  I made this recipe two weeks ago.  The same weekend I made the spinach tart.  Both recipes called for spinach & heavy cream.  A strange coincidence that I did not plan out!

The original recipe is from Fine Cooking and can be found here.  I originally saw the recipe pinned on Pinterest and was lead to the blog Bev Cooks.

Ingredients:

- 8 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves (10 lightly packed cups)

- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

- 12 oz. dried rigatoni or similar pasta like penne (3-1/2 cups)

- 3/4 cup heavy cream

- 1/2 cupcrumbled Gorgonzola or blue cheese

- 3 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh chopped chives

- salt & pepper

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center position.  Toast walnuts on rimmed baking sheet for 6-8 minutes.  remove from oven and set aside.

2.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Put the spinach in a colander and set in sink.

3.  Cook the penne according to package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta in the colander over the spinach (this wilt wilt the spinach perfectly).

4.  Put the cream, Gorgonzola, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and a pinch of salt in a skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the pasta and spinach, and 2 Tbs. each of the walnuts and chives. Cook, stirring constantly, until some of the sauce is absorbed by the pasta, about 2 minutes. If necessary, add some of the cooking water to moisten the pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowls, sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbs. walnuts and 1 Tbs. chives, and serve.

A pretty easy recipe, right?  I really liked how quick it was to cook.

I'm a big fan of Gorgonzola, but was pleased to find that the flavor was not overwhelming in this dish.  Definitely an easy pasta dish that I would make again.

What did you cook this week?

Party Rules:

1.  Add a link to the post you are linking up back to this post

OR

2.  Add the Tasty Tuesday button to the post you are linking up.  You will find the button and code on my sidebar.  Thanks!