“Pasta with Ash”
Ready in 25 minutes: delicious pasta alla cenere with gorgonzola and olives
Pasta alla cenere owes its name to one of its basic ingredients – finely chopped olives give the pasta the appearance of having been dusted with fine ash
© Mariha-kitchen / Getty Images
Standing in the kitchen for a long time after work? Don’t. From just four basic ingredients we conjure up a delicious pasta alla cenere – easy to prepare, exquisite in taste. The recipe.
Sometimes the simplest things are the best – “Pasta alla cenere” for example. The “pasta with ash” is a traditional dish of Italian cuisine. Even if the German translation of the dish doesn’t sound very inviting, the ingredients are all the more so: A sauce made from spicy Gorgonzola, fine cream and hearty olives, with pasta, tossed in a little olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Finito, that’s it, that’s all it takes to achieve a uniquely rich and intense taste. With this dish you not only prepare yourself a sensual taste experience after work, but also impress your loved ones.
Gorgonzola – one of the oldest cheeses in the world
In addition to the olives, the main player in this taste spectacle is the Gorgonzola. Admittedly, opinions differ when it comes to the blue cheese with its unmistakably piquant aroma, but the soft cheese alone in this recipe is responsible for the full-bodied, intense taste of the creamy sauce – it is not without reason that it is undoubtedly one of the most famous cheeses in Italy and the world. But that’s not all. Gorgonzola is one of the oldest cheeses in the world. Its first written mention can be found in 879 in documents from the town of Gorgonzola in Lombardy in northern Italy. Incidentally, the cheese was originally called Stracchino di Gorgonzola, which means “The tired of Gorgonzola”. This name goes back to the fact that the cheese was originally made in autumn when the cows were tired from the cattle drive. The blue cheese, made from the appropriate cow’s milk, could mature in the grottos around the town, which served as natural maturing and storage facilities.
About shooting stars and apprentices in love
There are two legends about the exact origin of the Gorgonzola. The first tells of a farmer who saw a shooting star one night. Overwhelmed by the sight of them, he forgot everything around him, including the cheese he was making. The next morning he found that the cheese from the night before had started to mold and was streaked with blue veins.
The second legend, on the other hand, traces the invention of blue cheese back to a love-struck apprentice at a cheese factory who, instead of taking care of the cheese, went on a romantic appuntamento amoroso with a girl in the evening. When he returned the next morning, he found that the curds had grown mold overnight. To cover up the faux pax, he mixed the old curd from the evening with fresh curd from the morning and stored the cheese as usual – after a few months the cheese was streaked with blue veins and tasted wonderfully intense.
Whether the origin stories correspond to the truth and which one is the right one will probably always remain a secret. But it doesn’t matter, after all, enjoying cheese is twice as much fun with the knowledge of the legends in mind. In any case, the soft cheese turns every dish into an extravagant treat with incredible creaminess. Oh yes, and last but not least: Don’t be put off by the intense smell of the Gorgonzola, the spicy, piquant taste of the Gorgonzola with a subtle sweet note is milder and finer than the evaporation of the cheese.
Recipe for an aromatic pasta alla cenere
ingredients
- 400 grams of penne
- 300 grams of Gorgonzola
- 300 milliliters of cream
- 150 grams of black olives, pitted
- native olive oil
- salt
- Black pepper
preparation
- Put the cream in a pan and heat slightly.
- Remove the rind from the gorgonzola with a knife, then chop the cheese and add to the cream. Let melt while stirring.
- Drain the olives, chop very finely and add to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper and simmer on low.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente.
- Drain, return to the pot, add a drizzle of olive oil and mix everything together.
- Then pour directly into the pan and mix together with the Gorgonzola sauce. Leave for a short time.
- Arrange on plates and serve immediately.