Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Gorgonzola Lost

The first few years I lived in New York I owned a garden-level apartment in Brooklyn Heights on Remsen Street, strategically located between the various excellent restaurants on Montague and the Lebanese delights of Atlantic Avenue. A slightly longer walk took me to Cobble Hill and the superlative tortelloni with walnuts in gorgonzola sauce at Caffe Carciofo at the intersection of Court and Kane Streets. Ah, those giant cheese tortelloni, swimming in creamy sauce, with the walnuts and some freshly chopped parsley strewn on top; they replaced mac and cheese as my favorite comfort food the way a Rolls Royce would replace a utilitarian SUV.  Caffe Carciofo later changed hands, went downhill, and ultimately closed, and I've been looking for an adequate replacement for that gorgonzola sauce ever since.

The Italian restaurants near where I live now are all Southern Italian. Only one serves pasta with what alleges to be gorgonzola sauce, but it's barely distinguishable from their other cream-based sauces. Lately my craving for tortelloni with walnuts and gorgonzola has been so bad that I've been surfing the net for recipes, to no avail.

Oh, I don't mean that I haven't found any recipes; I have. Unfortunately, they all seem to consist chiefly of heavy whipping cream. In retrospect, that's probably also the ingredient that made the sauce at Caffe Carciofo so unctuously yummy, but neither Barry nor my gall bladder would thank me for dabbling with it now. Maybe I could try making a gorgonzola-flavored white sauce. Maybe I could experiment with low-fat yogurt and a really strong cheese. Maybe I should just consign the dish to the realm of happy memories and continue eating my pasta with healthy fire-roasted tomato sauce. And yet...

This must be how former smokers feel about tobacco.

"Hunger: One of the few cravings that cannot be appeased with another solution." ~Irwin Van Grove

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