Gorgonzola melts into a sharp, creamy sauce for pasta that needs nothing but a ripe pear and butter to taste like dinner. This blue cheese from the shelf is built for this: sweet fruit, bitter greens, warm starch, and one good cheese.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 15 at the stove.

About 780 calories a serving, 27 g protein, 99 g carbohydrate, 31 g fat. From USDA figures for 100% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 8 oz of pasta until it reaches al dente, stirring occasionally. While it cooks, halve the pear, scoop out the core with a spoon, and slice each half into thin wedges.10 min
2. Crumble 4 oz of gorgonzola into a small bowl and mash it with a fork until mostly smooth, leaving some texture. Drain the pasta, reserving one cup of cooking water, then return the pasta to the pot off heat.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the mashed gorgonzola to the hot pasta and stir constantly, adding splashes of cooking water as you go, until the cheese melts into a silky sauce that coats each strand. Taste for salt and pepper.
4. Divide the pasta between two bowls and arrange pear slices on top of each serving, letting a few nestle into the warm sauce where they soften slightly.

Note Swap the pear for ripe apple or fresh figs if you prefer. Toss any leftover sauce with arugula for a next-day salad. Finish the meal with a small green salad dressed in vinaigrette or a plate of cured meat if you want more on the table.