You could use any vegetables you fancy, but blue cheese really suits broccoli, asparagus and mushrooms. Spinach also goes really well. Try and use a good blue cheese and make sure it is nice a creamy rather than crumbly as it will be easier to melt into the pasta to make it lovely and oozy. A good Danish blue cheese, or Danablu as it is sometimes known, is perfect for this.
Ingredients (serves 2)
250g pasta
200g good creamy blue cheese (cubed)
100g broccoli
75g young asparagus
75g flat field mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
Salt/pepper
Olive oil
50g crème fraîche
Method
Put hot water in a pan with lots of salt and add the pasta once it is boiling. Slice the garlic and fry in olive oil along with the mushrooms and broccoli for about 10 minutes before adding the asparagus and cook for a further five minutes.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain properly, put back in the pan and add the veg to it as well as the crème fraîche, and blue cheese. Leave on a low heat until the cheese has melted. Check the seasoning (be careful not to add too much salt as some Danish blue cheeses are already salty enough).
Notes
Blue cheese comes in a variety of strengths and flavours. Some can be very mild and sweet while others can be overpowering. With this recipe, make sure you taste the cheese before adding it to the dish. If it is really strong, be careful with the amount you add. It might be best to add the cheese in stages, until you’ve got the consistency and taste you want. I love blue cheese, so always use perhaps a little more than necessary!
Roquefort could also be used, but this is a little stronger than Danish blue, so be a little more restrained if possible.
Try to use thin, young asparagus, but if you can’t get your hands on this, ticker, tougher asparagus will be fine. Just make sure you cut off the rough ends, and perhaps cut in half if it is very long. It might also need a little longer cooking than the thin asparagus (but be careful not to over cook otherwise you’ll loose that lovely crunch).
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