Pasta ai quattro formaggi, or “4 Cheese Pasta,” is a basic dish that Italians eat once they’re actually within the temper for cheese! It’s a quite simple and quick dish to make, because the sauce will be made in a couple of minutes whereas the pasta boils.
Though penne is the standard selection of pasta form, chances are you’ll need to think about pairing this sauce with recent, selfmade gnocchi. Doing so will end in a dish from Valle D’Aosta, often called “Gnocchi alla Bava.”
Which Cheeses to Use for Quattro Formaggi Sauce
The purpose of mixing 4 completely different cheeses into one sauce is to create a balanced, easy taste. The most typical decisions for the 4 cheeses are:
-
Gorgonzola – This highly effective, moldy cheese gives a lot of the tacky kick within the sauce. You may select between “mushy/candy” or “agency/spicy” gorgonzola, the latter having a stronger style.
-
Taleggio – It is a mushy cheese with a consistency just like brie. It’s an amazing cheese for melting right into a sauce, therefore its inclusion.
-
Emmental – Also called “Swiss cheese.” That is the mildest of the 4 cheeses, and helps to mix all of the flavors collectively.
-
Parmigiano Reggiano – The King of Cheeses, Parmigiano is form of just like the seasoning cheese that helps carry out all the different flavors.
These cheeses will be substituted however attempt to maintain the identical stability of a powerful moldy cheese, a really mushy cheese, a gentle mixing cheese, and Parmigiano (which it’s best to actually attempt to keep on with). For example, the gorgonzola will be changed with a Rochefort, or the taleggio will be changed with brie.
Watch the Pasta Grammar video:
PASTA AI QUATTRO FORMAGGI RECIPE
For this recipe, you’ll need:
-
Salt
-
12 ounces (340 g) penne pasta, or 3-4 servings of recent, selfmade gnocchi
-
1 tablespoon (15 g ) unsalted butter
-
1.5 ounces (40 g) gorgonzola cheese, reduce into small chunks
-
1.75 ounces (50 g) taleggio cheese, reduce into small chunks
-
1.75 ounces (50 g) emmental Swiss cheese, grated
-
1.5 ounces (40 g) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated, plus further for topping
-
½ cup (120 ml) complete milk, or to style
Carry a big pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously. Add the penne pasta and prepare dinner as directed on the field, or till “al dente” to your style. Whereas the pasta boils, you’ll be able to put together the sauce.
Observe: In case you are cooking dry pasta, similar to penne, begin boiling the pasta earlier than making the sauce. In case you are cooking recent pasta, similar to gnocchi, make the sauce first and maintain it heat over very low warmth when you boil the pasta. Gnocchi solely takes a couple of minutes to prepare dinner, and is finished when all the items float to the floor of the water.
In a big pan, soften the butter over medium/low warmth. As soon as the butter is melted, flip the warmth right down to low and add the gorgonzola, taleggio, Swiss cheese, and about half the milk. Stir till the cheeses have utterly melted, then stir within the Parmigiano Reggiano.
Steadily stir extra milk into the sauce till you obtain a consistency you want; the sauce will be made thicker through the use of much less milk or thinner through the use of extra.
At this level, the sauce is finished. Preserve it heat over very low warmth whereas the pasta cooks, giving it a fast stir every so often.
When the pasta is al dente, flip the sauce warmth as much as medium/low and use a slotted ladle to switch the pasta into the sauce. Stir all collectively till the pasta is absolutely coated in tacky sauce. Serve and eat instantly, topped with some further grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
