Creamy gorgonzola sauce with walnuts, brightened up with crisp wine and lemon zest! This gorgonzola walnut pasta is great as an easy and quick dinner or as an appetizer.
The gorgonzola sauce is creamy and cheesy, walnuts add crunch and nutty taste, which complements gorgonzola perfectly. To make the sauce lighter, I added crisp dry white wine and lemon zest. The acidity of white wine cuts through the fattiness of gorgonzola and cream. The dish is finished with fresh fragrant basil leaves, crunchy toasted walnuts, and grated Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:
Pasta: spaghetti or bucatini work best. Instead of pasta, you could serve this gorgonzola cream sauce with gnocchi.
Gorgonzola: I used dolce (mild) gorgonzola variety for this recipe.
Cream: you can use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.
White wine: use dry white wine that you like to drink. If you don’t want to cook with wine you can sub it with chicken broth and some lemon juice or white wine vinegar.
Nuts: walnuts work here best, I don’t see a better substitution. You can omit adding nuts if you wish.
What you could also add: some vegetables like spinach or broccoli.
What is gorgonzola?
Gorgonzola is a creamy Italian cheese made from cow’s milk. It’s produced in Northern Italy. There’s dolce (mild) or piccante (hot) gorgonzola variety. It has a sharp and distinctive flavor.
Substitute for gorgonzola cheese: add Blue Stilton or Roquefort cheese.
What does gorgonzola go with? Walnuts, mascarpone cheese, fresh fruit like pear, figs, apples, strawberries, jams and marmalades, fig mustard, honey.
What to do with leftover gorgonzola: you can use it for this recipe: lemon spinach gorgonzola sauce or freeze it!
How to make gorgonzola pasta step by step:
This is a complete recipe. Scroll down for printable recipe card and ingredient list.
Start with cooking 6.5-oz (180g) pasta al dente (it should have a bite to it), in a small amount of well-salted water. Drain the pasta about 30 seconds before the end of the cooking time, reserve about 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce.
How to make gorgonzola sauce for pasta:
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a large frying pan, add ¼ cup (25g) ground walnuts, 1/2 ts grated lemon zest, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 clove garlic (pressed). Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the walnuts are slightly browned and fragrant.
Add ½ cup (120ml) dry white wine, cook, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes, until almost evaporated.
Add ¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream, turn the heat to the minimum and add ½ cup (100g) gorgonzola, stir until cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth, take the pan off the heat.
Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and add about 2-4 Tbsp of the pasta cooking water (add more if the sauce is too thick).
Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like lots of pepper).
Serve immediately (the sauce thickens quickly), sprinkle fresh basil leaves, grated parmesan and chopped walnuts on top (you can toast the walnut on a dry pan for extra flavor).
Enjoy!
Storage:
Gorgonzola cream sauce can be made ahead for up to 2-3 days then reheated (add more milk if it’s too thick). Store it separately from the pasta. If you leave the pasta with the sauce, the pasta will be soggy, and the sauce too thick.
How to serve it:
- As a main dish (serves 2): serve it with a crunchy salad on the side, for example, this crisp apple celery walnut salad (without the goat cheese toasts). You could also serve it with a pan-fried fish on the side, like in this recipe: fish with gorgonzola spinach and lemon pasta (this gorgonzola sauce is even simpler to make).
- As a starter/appetizer (serves 4).
Other quick pasta recipes you may like:
- Spaghetti alla Puttanesca – tomatoes, olives, capers and anchovies pasta
- Pasta Caprese – tomatoes, mozzarella and basil pasta
- Spaghetti cacio e pepe
- Quick spaghetti with fresh tomato meat sauce
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how you liked it and give it a star rating in the comments below! You can also add a photo of your creation!
Gorgonzola Walnut Pasta
Ingredients
gorgonzola sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup (25g) ground walnuts
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic pressed
- ½ cup (120ml) dry white wine
- ¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream 30-36%
- ½ cup (100g) gorgonzola cheese I used mild (dolce) variety
- 2-4 tablespoons pasta cooking water
- salt and black pepper to taste
additionally:
- 6.5- oz (180g) spaghetti
to finish:
- fresh basil leaves
- a few walnuts to sprinkle on top toasted
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
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Instructions
- Prepare all the ingredients.
- Cook the pasta al dente (it should have a bite to it), in a small amount of well-salted water. Drain the pasta about 30 seconds before the end of the cooking time, reserve about 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan, add the walnuts, lemon zest, pepper, and garlic, cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the walnuts are slightly browned and fragrant.
- Add the wine, cook, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes, until almost evaporated.
- Add the cream, turn the heat to the minimum and add gorgonzola, stir until cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth, take the pan off the heat.
- Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and add about 2-4 Tbsp of the pasta cooking water (add more if the sauce is too thick).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like lots of pepper).
- Serve immediately (the sauce thickens quickly), sprinkle fresh basil leaves, grated parmesan and chopped walnuts on top (you can toast the walnut on a dry pan for extra flavor).
- Enjoy!
Notes
You can serve this pasta with a crunchy salad on the side or with a pan-fried fish/chicken breast.
2 Comments
Maria
17 February 2021 at 20:45Made it today and happily in love, same is valid for all the fellow eaters: easy, quick, delicious. Gorgonzola is gorgeous here. Lessons learned: walnuts can be really different… I unfortunately bought some that lack taste and smell and found it out a bit too late. Would definitely repeat with the proper ones! Thanks again for helping working mom to be creative and fast :)))
Aleksandra
17 February 2021 at 20:50I’m so happy I could help you Maria, thank you for commenting! Yes, walnut and basically all nuts can taste pretty bad when rancid!