This Gorgonzola Pasta is a one-pan cheese pasta recipe, using creamy gorgonzola cheese, sweet cooked apples, and onions in a creamy broth that’s thickened with flour. Al dente Rigatoni is coated in this sauce with additional shredded cheese and served with a sprinkling of fresh Italian parsley!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It’s a super easy cheese pasta recipe made with gorgonzola cheese and pantry staple ingredients that comes together in just 20 minutes!
- You can make extra sauce and use it to serve over grilled steak, pork, or holiday roast ham.
- There are endless options for varying this gorgonzola pasta sauce recipe to suit personal preferences and dietary needs.
Whether you’re looking for dinner ideas for tonight or need inspiration for your next potluck, this cheese pasta recipe is one not to skip!
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- Rigatoni pasta - or pasta of your choice. We like using the ridged pasta because it grabs the delicious cheesy sauce.
- Olive Oil -- you may also use any vegetable oil of your liking.
- Onion -- we used white but you may use red onion or shallots.
- Apples - we used Galas with their crisp, mellow sweetness. Gala apples are great for baking. You can typically use less sugar due to their natural sweetness. Honeycrisp, Golden delicious, Fuji are good apple substitutes for Gala.
- All-purpose Flour
- Chicken broth -- can substitute with vegetable broth.
- Milk
- Gorgonzola cheese-- may also use Gouda or Smoked Gouda.
- Salt and Pepper
- Italian parsley (garnish)
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Cook the chopped onion with olive oil in a pan over medium heat until translucent. Then add in diced apples and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add flour and stir, followed by the broth and milk. Bring to boil. Add in 1 cup of cheese and mix.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the cooked pasta and remaining cup of cheese.
- Mix well until the pasta is completely coated with the gorgonzola sauce.
- Add seasoning and sprinkle each serving with Italian parsley.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Pasta Pot
- Deep Skillet or Large Dutch Oven
- Liquid measuring cup
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Wooden mixing spoon
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making Pasta alla Gorgonzola with Apples Recipe.
This cheese sauce is a mixture of cooked sweet apples, white onion, and gorgonzola cheese. The sauce is cooked in a mixture of milk and chicken broth and thickened with flour.
The actual cheese itself typically pairs well with both fresh and dry fruit (apples, pears, strawberries, kiwis, and figs) as well as jams and marmalades. The gorgonzola sauce made from this recipe pairs beautifully as a luxurious coating for most types of pasta but you could also use the sauce as a topping for grilled steak, pork, or holiday ham.
Gorgonzola cheese has a salty and earthy taste. It can be compared to blue cheese although it’s usually milder in taste, depending on how long it’s aged.
This particular cheese can be served in sauces as I’ve done in this pasta dish. It can also be crumbled and added to salads or simply served on a cheese platter with your favorite jams and crackers.
Gala apples are my favorite for baking and I love using them when pairing with a sharp cheese such as gorgonzola. Other apples that are good cooking apples include Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, or Fuji.
Blue cheese is typically more salty and sharp in flavor than gorgonzola. You can think of gorgonzola as the milder version of Blue cheese that is also softer in texture.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- Don’t skip the flour in this recipe. It acts as a thickening agent for the sauce.
- Pasta usually takes around 8 minutes to cook through but I usually shave off a minute or 2 to achieve al dente pasta so that by the time the semi-cooked pasta has been mixed with the cooked sauce, it’s not overcooked. I found that my Rigatoni took 11 minutes to cook.
- If your cheese sauce is too thick for any reason, whisk in a little extra milk until you achieve the desired consistency.
- Always shred your cheese from a block as it melts much better than pre-shredded cheese and also tastes better!
- Easily double this recipe when feeding a crowd. You may need a larger pan or pot then such as a Dutch oven or a large cast-iron skillet.
📚 Variations
- Any other pasta can be used for this dish. I prefer short, tubular, and ridged pasta variations since they are great for “catching” the sauce.
- Vegetable oil can be used instead of olive oil.
- While I’ve used white onion in this dish, you can also use red onion or shallots.
- If you can’t find Gala apples, opt for Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, or Fuji.
- To replace gorgonzola cheese, use a simple goat cheese that won’t be too overpowering in taste while still offering the same level of creaminess. You could also pair gorgonzola with parmesan cheese. Gouda cheese is also excellent in this recipe as well as smoked Gouda.
- Add in some healthy green with spinach and broccoli.
- Create extra texture by tossing in some chopped and toasted nuts such as walnuts or pine nuts.
- The all-purpose flour does a great job of thickening the cheese sauce but you could also use gluten-free flour or whole-wheat pastry flour.
- For a kick of heat, add in some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper while making the sauce.
- For a meaty version of this gorgonzola pasta, add in cooked bacon pieces, chopped chicken, leftover holiday ham, or sausage.
🥫 Storage
Store leftover gorgonzola pasta in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container, covered tightly in plastic wrap.
This cheese pasta can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven, covered with aluminum foil so that the pasta doesn’t dry out and the cheesy sauce doesn’t burn.
📗 Related Recipes
Nothing beats an easy cheese pasta recipe when you’re in need of delicious dinner ideas for tonight! Other comforting cheese pasta dishes include my Vegetable Sausage Pasta Bake, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, or Stuffed Rigatoni Bake.
🍽 Serve with
This Gorgonzola Pasta is so delicious as it is but if you’d like to add a side dish to your meal then consider a homemade bread such as Garlic Cheesy Bread or a light green salad such as this Arugula Salad!
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
While there are so many variations to this creamy cheese pasta dish, I discovered the winning combination of sweet cooked apples and onions with the ultra-creamy gorgonzola cheese and have never looked back since!
The sweetness of the apples and caramelization offered by the softened onions does a beautiful job of balancing the creamy richness of the melted cheese. If you haven’t tried it, you’re in for a serious treat…It’s definitely one of my favorite Fall pasta recipes!
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
Gorgonzola pasta is a cheese pasta recipe like no other! The surprising combination of apples, onion, and gorgonzola cheese to make this simple cheese sauce is genius! Toss in the al dente pasta and sprinkle each serving with fresh herbs for an easy and irresistible midweek family meal!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Gorgonzola Pasta With Diced Apple
Equipment Needed
- Large Deep Skillet - 13 inch or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pasta I used Rigatoni
- 4 Tablespoons Olive Oil or vegetable oil of your liking.
- ½ cup White onion chopped
- 2 Apples, peeled and cored About 2 cups cubed. I used Gala.
- 2 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
- ¾ cup Chicken broth
- ¾ cup Milk
- 2 cups Gorgonzola cheese * see notes for substitutions Shredded and divided
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package direction until al dente. My Rigatoni took 11 minutes to cook. Dreain the water and set aside.
- In a pan over medium heat, add olive oil and chopped onion. Cook for 2 minutes or unitl translucent. *** see notes.
- Add diced apples and stir and cook for 2 minutes until the apples are soft but still have a bit of crispness.
- You will have a bit of liquid on the bottom but that's okay. Add the flour and stir until the flour is incorporated into the liquid.
- Stir in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil.
- Add 1 cup of cheese and mix until the chees melts.
- Take off theheat and add the cooked pasta and the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
- Mix well until all the pasta is covered with the gorgonzola sauce.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle each serving with Italian parsley.
- Serve warm and enjoy.
Notes
- Any other pasta can be used for this dish. I prefer short, tubular, and ridged pasta variations since they are great for “catching” the sauce.
- Vegetable oil can be used instead of olive oil.
- While I’ve used white onion in this dish, you can also use red onion or shallots.
- If you can’t find Gala apples, opt for Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, or Fuji.
- To replace gorgonzola cheese, use a simple goat cheese that won’t be too overpowering in taste while still offering the same level of creaminess. You could also pair gorgonzola with parmesan cheese. Gouda cheese is also excellent in this recipe as well as smoked Gouda.
- Add in some healthy green with spinach and broccoli.
- Create extra texture by tossing in some chopped and toasted nuts such as walnuts or pine nuts.
- The all-purpose flour does a great job of thickening the cheese sauce but you could also use gluten-free flour or whole-wheat pastry flour.
- For a kick of heat, add in some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper while making the sauce.
- For a meaty version of this gorgonzola pasta, add in cooked bacon pieces, chopped chicken, leftover holiday ham, or sausage.
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