Brown-butter sage with blue cheese and a pesto & walnut topping

Tasty and delicious. Don't skimp on the walnut topping! Next time I'm going to try more bleu cheese.

Brown-butter sage with blue cheese and a pesto & walnut topping

adapted from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter + 3 Tbs. for browning

3 Tbs. flour

6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

4 bay leaves

3 cups  milk

1 lb. macaroni

handful of walnuts

couple sprigs of thyme

125 g bleu cheese, crumbled and divided

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional

1 grating nutmeg, optional

6 sage leaves

basil pesto, for garnish

Instructions:
1. Melt butter in oven-proof sauce pan on low, add flour, turn to medium and stir until roux is formed.

2. Add sliced garlic and cook until golden and garlic is sticky, stirring constantly.

3. Add bay leaves and slowly whisk in milk.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn to low and leave simmering. Stir in ¾ or so of the bleu cheese until well combined with sauce.

5. In a separate small pan, fry the sage leaves with the 3 Tbs. butter over low heat until darkened and nutty.

6. Add cooked pasta to sauce, stir in browned butter, the rest of the blue cheese crumbles, and optional ingredients.. Salt and pepper to taste.

7. Place macaroni mixture in oven pan. Coarsely chop walnuts and thyme together, and scatter on top of pasta.

8. Bake for 30 minutes at 425F, until walnuts are golden and thyme has crisped.

9. Serve with dollops of basil pesto on top.

Pear Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Bleu Cheese

Finally, spring has sprung!

Local, sustainable ingredients are abound, and I've been soaking it all in : ) (More posts to follow shortly) After a winter of little-to-no cooking, and being busy settling into my new job and life back in the KC area I've been the traditional vegetarian stereotype that just subsists off of salads (yes, yes this is a salad recipe, something I usually don't bother blogging about since my diet is super-saturated with salads, but this one is truly special).

But, now that the local, organic farmer's market is getting into full-swing and I can get some great in-season produce just up on the road on Saturdays, it's almost impossible to not to cook something fabulous with these ingredients. It would almost be a waste to keep making the same salad again and again with these ingredients. I got the arugula, radishes, and honey locally.

This salad would be a great spring dinner-party course: stunning, fresh, and delicious, and it takes minimal work to prepare.

Pear Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Bleu Cheese
from Cooking Melangery
serves 1

Ingredients:
1 ripe (but firm) pear
1 cup arugula
5 radishes, sliced on a medium mandolin setting
2 Tbs. toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
1 - 2 Tbs. bleu cheese, crumbled
1/2 Tbs. oil (I used walnut)
a splash white wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper
honey for drizzling
lemon juice (optional)

Instructions:
1. Cut pears horizontally into 4 slices, and cut out just the cores, but leaving the stem on the top piece. Brush with lemon juice to keep from browning (can cut pears last to skip that bit if you don't have lemon juice)
2. Toss arugula, radishes, walnuts, bleu cheese, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper together in a bowl until everything is well-coated.
3. Assemble the pear with the mixed salad between each slice, stuffing as full as possible, alternating salad and pear slices until the pear is re-composed.
4. Drizzle with honey and serve.