Pantry Clear Out Recipe 4 - Anelli Gigante or Rigatoni with Gorgonzola Sauce and Arugula and Cherry Tomatoes

Another All-In-One meal with pasta and veg! And only six ingredients....if you don't count salt and pepper...and cooking water for pasta. Let's just go with six, shall we? And it comes together in just a little bit more time than it takes for the pasta to cook. Your only prep is warming the cream and cheese together, washing arugula and tomatoes, slicing the grape tomatoes in half, and grating some Parmesan cheese. Queen of Sheba, reclining on a divan rather than spending time prepping.

This was good because I had to save up energy for the next two dishes.

I didn't have farfalle on hand but I did have Anelli Gigante, which are basically large pasta rings, which worked out well because the sauce coated the outside and also slid along the insides of the pieces. Yum!

 The Gorgonzola sauce is rich and simple. I bumped up the amount of cheese in it because I had some leftover Danish blue. No bothering with a salad because the salad is mixed in the dish!

Mangia!

Anelli Gigante with Gorgonzola Sauce and Arugula and Cherry Tomatoes

Mark Bittman

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup half-and-half, cream or milk

1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or other good blue cheese

1 pound farfalle or other pasta 

2 cups arugula trimmed of very thick stems, washed, dried and chopped

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

 Freshly grated Parmesan to taste, optional

 Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. In a small saucepan gently warm the half-and-half and Gorgonzola just until cheese melts a bit and mixture becomes thick; chunky is O.K.

When water boils, cook pasta until it is just tender but not mushy. Drain and return to pot over low heat.

Stir in Gorgonzola sauce along with arugula, tomatoes and a healthy dose of black pepper. Stir to combine, taste and add salt, if necessary, then serve immediately, with grated Parmesan if you like.