Invoking a Homey Fall Dish in August: Gorgonzola-Gruyere-Parmesan Cheese Sauce

I recently discovered the lemon-pepper pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe's. The name pappardelle comes from the Italian word to "pappare," meaning "to gobble up," which I have a hard time refraining from doing, but I would like to still be able to fit into my clothes.

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While Mike is not a fan of lemon, I love the sour, sweet, bitter, citrus-y, zesty flavor. I'm not calling for big bold, lemon-ness, just a subtle hint of that acidity in the right dish is awesome to me, and that is where Trader Joe's got it right with these noodles.

With flat, broad noodles, I like a nice cream sauce. I'm not a big fan of red sauces in general, but it could be that the ones I've bought and the ones I've made are just subpar. I think that complacency toward red sauce has allowed me to develop a love for pesto and, especially, cream sauces. I tend not to indulge in cheese and milk within my routine habits, but I love a good cream sauce, especially with the sweetness of spring peas, and the mellowness of mushrooms in the fall.

But it's summer now, and a good bechamel is looked upon with disdain from bikini-wearing, food-phobics. I, on the other hand, welcome a savory dish, as long as I eat a little less and up the vegetable count at the same time. And the result is a bacon and anchovy laden sauce with so much cheese-flavor packed into the small portion that it would make a Swiss swear off fondue. I think the amount I made was sufficient for 2 people, but I greedily ate the whole thing. In retrospect, it was a little much, but it was oh so good.

Gorgonzola-Gruyere-Parmesan Cheese Sauce
Yields 2 servings


Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon, diced
2 anchovy fillets, minced (the kind packed in olive oil, such as Cento brand)
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 oz gruyere cheese, grated
1 oz parmesan cheese, grated
1 oz gorgonzola, crumbled
1/2 C milk, 2% or whole

Method:
Place all of the bacon in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until crisp and the fat has been rendered. Remove and reserve.

Lower the heat to medium-low and in the sauce pan add the diced anchovy, garlic and shallot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the grated and crumbled cheeses and stir to combine. Add the milk and simmer until the sauce browns slightly.

You can cook it for less time if you'd like a blonde sauce, or longer if you'd like a nuttier, deeper brown sauce.

The salt is very salty, which I liked in combination with the sweeter noodles. I added some cherry tomato confit that I made, as well as some steamed haricots verts for color and for a nice, vegetal crunch.

I see this great with green peas, pancetta, even spinach or kale, and maybe some added lemon juice for that sweet, acidity, when tomatoes sadly disappear from farmers markets.