Pasta Gorgonzola

Pasta Gorgonzola is a buttery, cream-based sauce with gorgonzola cheese mixed with pasta and topped with fresh parsley and crushed walnuts. Made in just 20 minutes, this restaurant-quality recipe would make a quick dinner for busy weeknights.

Craving a restaurant-worthy meal but short on time? Try this creamy Pasta Gorgonzola!

This dish is ready in just 20 minutes and features a decadent, buttery sauce made with gorgonzola cheese. It's tossed with your favorite cooked shaped pasta and finished with fresh parsley and crunchy walnuts for a delicious and easy weeknight dinner.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Pasta: You can use any shaped pasta, like rigatoni, penne, or even spaghetti, for this recipe. I used dried rigatoni, but you could certainly use any dried pasta or fresh pasta of your choice.
• Butter: The base of this rich sauce is made with butter and heavy cream. I like to use salted butter but you can use unsalted butter and add salt to taste if you prefer.
• Gorgonzola: The gorgonzola cheese is the star ingredient here. It’s full-flavored, salty and slightly earth.
  • Depending on the variety you choose you might have one that’s creamy or crumbly. Either will work beautifully in this sauce.
  • If you can’t get gorgonzola cheese you might opt for Roquefort as that has a similar mild blue cheese flavor.
  • Stilton would also be good but has a much stronger flavor profile and therefore you might want to reduce the quantity by around half.
• Pasta water: The reserved pasta water is used because once the pasta has been cooked the water retains the starch. This is useful for binding ingredients and emulsifying a sauce.

How to make pasta gorgonzola

Here you'll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.

Step 1: Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package instructions. Drain but reserve 2 cups of pasta water.

Step 2: In a skillet set over a medium heat, add the butter and melt it.

Step 3: Add the crushed garlic and cook for one minute, or until fragrant, stirring the entire time.

Step 4: Add the heavy cream along with half a cup of the reserved pasta water.

Step 5: Bring to a boil, and then immediately turn the heat to low.

Step 6: Stir in the crumbled gorgonzola cheese. Mix the cheese into the sauce until it’s mostly melted.

Step 7: Add in the drained pasta.

Step 8: Stir in ¼ cup of pasta water to loosen the sauce, if necessary.

Step 9: Give everything a good stir to ensure all the pasta is completely coated in the sauce. If needed, use more of the pasta water to thin out the sauce.

Step 10: Sprinkle with parsley and walnuts, if desired, just before serving.

Tips

• Cream: For a lighter replacement, use half-and-half. The sauce will be thinner, so only add as much pasta water as you need to make the sauce the desired consistency.
• Walnuts: The walnuts add a bit of crunch and earthiness to the pasta. If you would like to omit them, you can. Or you can toast breadcrumbs in a skillet and sprinkle them over the top for a bit of texture.

Serving suggestions

This is a decadent pasta dish, so it goes well with a green salad or sauteed greens to help break up some of the richness.

Also, if you have leftover grilled or rotisserie chicken, you can mix it in for a more substantial pasta dish.

Storage

This pasta is best eaten on the same day it’s been prepared as the pasta will eventually soak up most of the sauce.

Any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you plan on reheating, I recommend saving some extra pasta water separately as it can be used to bring back the sauce.

The saved pasta water will be good in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

More easy pasta recipes!

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