Spinach Pasta Gratin with Blue Cheese Sauce by Ladycoquillette

Instructions

For 4 people, preparation 30 min, cooking 25 min :

300 g of rigatoni or penne pasta

200 g of gorgonzola (Italian blue cheese)

300 g of whole heavy cream

300 g of washed spinach leaves or shoots, hulled and roughly chopped

180 g of leftover roast chicken cut into small pieces

1 nice handful of grated Parmesan or Emmental

1 knob of butter and 1 clove of garlic for the mold

freshly ground white pepper.

Preheat your oven to 390 ° F.
In a saucepan, melt the cheese cut into small pieces and the crème fraîche. Bring to a boil while stirring. Let this sauce thicken for a few minutes over low-medium heat, stirring often. Pepper (do not add salt, the gorgonzola is already very salty). Reserve this cheese cream off the heat.
While the sauce cooks, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, 3-4 min less than the time indicated on the package (the pasta will finish cooking in the oven). Drain and set aside.
In a very hot pan with a little olive oil, brown / "fall" the spinach leaves for a few moments - the spinach is cooked very quickly, to soften it a little. Drain the cooked leaves over a bowl to collect the juice.
Mix the pasta with the spinach juice. Add the cream to the gorgonzola, the roast chicken cut into small pieces and the spinach leaves. Mix well.
Pour this mixture into a lightly buttered and scraped gratin dish with a clove of garlic.
Sprinkle with grated cheese, then bake for about 15 minutes to brown everything and finish cooking the pasta. Enjoy hot.