Farfalle with Green Beans and Gorgonzola

This week's contribution to Sweetnicks ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday (ARF=Antioxidant Rich Food) is a Farfalle with Green Beans and Gorgonzola.

This dish was inspired by our local Italian Deli, which I noted has a Green Bean and Gorgonzola salad. I really haven't done much with green beans other than serve them as a side or toss them in a soup, so I was excited to see how this combo would play out. This was a very satisfying meal - the creamy, pungent Gorgonzola played off the crisp green beans very well. The walnuts were a great addition.

Green beans, aka string beans and runner beans, are an excellent source of Vitamin K. A cup provides 120% of the RDA of Vitamin K, important in building and maintaining healthy bones. Green beans are also a great source of Vitamins A & C, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.

Gorgonzola is an Italian cow milk cheese that is creamy in taste and crumbly in texture with a sharp blue-green mold. It is named after the town where it originated around the 9th Century, just outside Milan. It is quite a salty cheese and you'll want to keep that in mind when cooking with it. It's very good alone and in salads, a good choice for a dessert cheese. It pairs well with pears, thus the Pear and Gorgonzola pizza.

Farfalle with Green Beans & Gorgonzola (Serves 2):

8 oz farfalle pasta
12 oz green beans, topped and tailed
1 tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp half & half
2 oz Gorgonzola, crumbled
handful of walnut pieces
Fresh ground pepper

Cook the pasta according to directions.

Bring 1-1/2 cups water, salted, to a boil. Add green beans and boil for 7 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Melt butter in a skillet over med. heat and fry shallot and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add drained green beans and half & half and cook 2 minutes. Add drained pasta, walnuts, and Gorgonzola. Turn off heat and stir until well combined. Add fresh ground pepper. Serve immediately.

We enjoyed this with a light Pinot Noir.