Practice recipe: Farfalle with Creamy Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce

One of my Christmas gifts from the husband was a cookbook from the perky-chested Italian chef Giada De Laurentiis:
The husband and I like to watch her show whenever we can, though I watch for the culinary aspect while he just hopes to see a speck of cleavage. I will say she delivers on both. But anyway, I found a recipe (one of many) in the cookbook that looked pretty good. I have to give you a small disclaimer, though: I normally dislike mushrooms, peas and Gorgonzola cheese. So what in the world am I doing cooking a meal featuring all three of those items? I don't know. It just looked good and I figured I might as well try it.

Farfalle with Creamy Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce
2 T unsalted butter
3 T all-purpose flour
2.5 C whole milk at room temperature
5 oz creamy Gorgonzola cheese, cubed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound assorted mushrooms (cremini, oyster, stemmed, shitake, sliced)
3/4 C frozen peas, thawed
1 pound farfalle pasta (bowtie pasta)

In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter starts to sizzle, add the flour and whisk until smooth and the flour loses its raw flavor, about two minutes. Carefully add the milk all at once and whisk until smooth. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for two minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the Gorgonzola and stir until melted. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in the peas. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farfalle and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, about 10 minutes. Drain. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl. Add the Gorgonzola sauce and mushroom mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Another limitation I found is that I don't have access to some food items, in this case, the creamy Gorgonzola. I opted for regular Gorgonzola and crumbled it when adding it to the milk mixture. It melted fine. Additionally, I didn't use whole milk, just regular 2%, and it also turned out fine. I just had to stir it a bit longer for the sauce to thicken. For the mushrooms, I just used sliced baby Portabellas. Again, no biggie. I also did my best to halve the recipe since this feeds 4-6 and there is just the two of us at home.

The finished dish looked very nice. The sauce coated the pasta well, and the green peas added a welcome pop of color to an otherwise monochromatic dish, save for the mushrooms. The first thought I had when I took a bite was that the dish was a bit bland. I went for more salt and pepper, and tried another bite. Still a little bland, and on the second bite the Gorgonzola really started to make itself known. The husband thought it was a little bland, too, and the more we ate the more we realized this was not going to be a staple menu item for us. I think the peas did us in. The Gorgonzola was a bit heavy, too, and I didn't even use the full amount. Both of us whole-heartedly gave this dish a resounding, "Meh." I'm only slightly disappointed, though, because I knew going into the challenge that something like this could happen. I could spend all night cooking up a storm only to be unimpressed with the results. Better luck next time.