i’m a huge fan of the dinner tonight column from serious eats.  it’s full of fabulous recipes with short ingredient lists & quick cooking times.  amen.

with this recipe, we subbed in whole wheat pasta to boost the nutrition a little bit & used a roasted garlic & mozzarella chicken sausage to cut down on the grease factor. 

i’m not sure that i’d ever had a pasta with a creamy blue cheese sauce before we made this, but i loved every single funky bite of it.

CREAMY BLUE CHEESE PASTA WITH SAUSAGE & WINE

creamy blue cheese pasta with sausage & wine

serves 4

extra virgin olive oil
8oz chicken sausage, italian sausage, or cured greek sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
kosher salt
8oz whole wheat penne or other short pasta
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons fresh oregano, roughly chopped
salt & freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, for topping

1.  in a large skillet, over medium high heat, heat the olive oil.  (if using chicken sausage use enough to coat the bottom of the pan, if using other sausage, use less, you’ll get some oil from the sausage.)  add sausage & cook until browned & cooked through.  (if you’re using cooked chicken sausage, this will be quick!)

2.  bring a large pot of water to a boil.  salt well.  add pasta & cook until al dente.  reserve 1 cup of the pasta water & drain.

3.  when the sausage is browned, turn the heat up to high & add the wine.  let the liquid reduce for 2 minutes, then lower the heat & add blue cheese, cream & oregano.  once the cheese has melted & incorporated into the sauce, add the cooked pasta & toss, adding the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce as necessary.  season with salt & pepper to taste.  add to a large serving bowl, or divide into individual bowls, & top with parmesan.  dig in!

adapted from dinner tonight, serious eats