Here's the ultimate in quick sauce for pasta
Washington Post
Wouldn't it be swell if the sauce could always be assembled in less time than the pasta takes to cook? Here's an ingenious, no-cook approach in which the warmth from just-cooked pasta melts cheese and wilts spinach. And that's it.
The specifics matter little: use any pasta, any meltable cheese from jack to brie.
This is from Nigel Slater's "Appetite: So What Do You Want to Eat Today?" (Clarkson N. Potter, 2002).
- Pasta Cheese Supper
- Salt
- A handful of pasta (3 to 4 ounces)
- 4 to 5 ounces gorgonzola cheese
- 2 large handfuls of spinach leaves, rinsed
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it generously and throw in the pasta. Boil until tender, about 9 minutes. (Tubes such as rigatoni take longer than ribbons such as fettuccine.)
Put the cheese into a warm serving bowl — it will start to ooze — then add the spinach. Working quickly, add the lightly drained pasta to the bowl. (A little of the cooking water adhering to the pasta will prevent it from sticking together and help the sauce to coat it easily.) Toss the cheese, spinach and pasta until the cheese melts and the spinach wilts. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Per serving: 722 calories, 37 gm protein, 66 gm carbohydrates, 34 gm fat, 85 mg cholesterol, 21 gm saturated fat, 1,656 mg sodium, 7 gm dietary fiber.
