I first had this sauce many years ago in an Italian restaurant in Glebe. I remember writing a letter (no email back then) to the chef asking if he’d share the recipe, but he ignored my request. He served it with the little shell-shaped pasta called conchiglie. I’ve used ‘snail shell’ lumache here, but it works well with any pasta shape that has hollows for the nuts and creamy Gorgonzola sauce to nestle into. I like a slightly higher than usual alcohol match to cut through the richness of the sauce – an off-dry red vermouth like the one from Margan in the Hunter Valley works a treat! Turn any leftover lumache with Gorgonzola walnut sauce into a delicious pasta bake sprinkled with breadcrumbs and dotted with butter. See the video below for all you need to know to cook pasta perfectly every time.
Serves 6 as a starter
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Conchiglie, meaning sea shell, is the most common shell-shaped pasta. However there’s also lumache (snail shells) and shell-shaped gnochetti Sardi or malloreddus, which is Sardinian pasta traditionally rolled by hand to create little shells.
The earthiness of walnuts seems to have a natural affinity for the sweet savouriness of Gorgonzola Dolce, especially in this classic pasta sauce.
I find something with a slightly higher alcohol content, like a vermouth, cuts through the richness of Gorgonzola well.