Pasta with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola Sauce

Note: Please be aware that this post was scheduled to go up on Halloween, and then my WordPress had a fit and died most unfortunately. Put yourself in a Halloweeny mood if you like. P.S. Sorry for the pictures, which are probably the only scary part of this not-very-Halloweeny Halloween post.

Today, most people have their Halloween posts going up–something sweet or creepy or at the very least black and orange. I do not.

Halloween is not a big deal in Europe. I recently learned that the holiday is, in fact, of Irish and not American origin, but it’s in the States that we start getting ready at the end of August, throwing up ghoulish designs and selling costumes in stores as soon as kids are back in school. Here, if anyone celebrates, it’s college kids–the Halloween celebrations I’ve seen since leaving the States usually involve dressing up and drinking (multiple, strong) drinks with dry ice in them so that they smoke like witches’ brew. Don’t get me wrong: I love those celebrations, but there’s something so safe about being a kid and trick or treating, guarding your bag of candy like your bounty once you’re safe at home.

I’m leaving Spain in a week, and leaving a place always gets me thinking: I’ll miss San Sebastian, a city I’ve come to know and love. It’s a strange feeling to arrive in a new place and know that soon this will be your home, soon you’ll know everything about it, and yet that’s what’s happened yet again here, for me. San Sebastian is mine now, now that I’m ready to leave it.

I’ll miss the surf, of course, the surf I’ve waxed poetic about since I got here. I sold my surfboard yesterday–I’m sure I’ll have a new one soon, as soon as I arrive in Argentina, but it still felt like something so final, and it’s strange to sit in my room and not see it here.

I’ll miss walking around and speaking Spanish–my Spanish is nowhere as good as my French, but even giving directions or the time in Spanish, saying agur (goodbye in Basque) when I leave a store… it will be strange to be back in France and then soon after in America, back to my normal routine.

But there are things I’ve missed since coming to Spain, one of which is cooking for people. I’ve gotten used to being the point person for a new recipe or for bringing something delicious to a party, and here, due to whatever reason–the fact that I don’t have my own place, the fact that we party out more often than we stay in–has not been the case. I never realized how much I love having people to cook for until suddenly I was alone, cooking for myself, regressing back to the dishes of stewed tomatoes and vegetables that got me through my first few weeks in Paris, the weeks where my kitchen was my own and the only plate at my dinner table was mine.

So a few nights ago, I decided to cook for myself as though I had people to cook for, as though I had people other than myself to impress, and impress I did. This dish is simple to make, but it’s one of those dishes where the product is so much more than the sum of its parts. Slowly cooking earthy mushrooms with sweet onions, adding just a little bit of cream (if you’re feeling bad) and a bit of blue cheese (even if you’re not) and serving the whole thing over pasta infused with even more mushroom deliciousness… well let’s just say that even if you’re cooking for one, you may forget that you’re the only person you’re spoiling.

Pasta with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola Sauce

1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. butter
salt
1 onion, sliced
350 g. (12 oz.) mushrooms, sliced (I used plain white button mushrooms because they’re cheap and so am I, but feel free to change it up. And please, slice them yourself.)
black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp. cream
1 tbsp. blue cheese
1 cup mushroom fettuccine (or other pasta)

Heat the oil and butter over medium heat and cook the onion with a bit of salt until just soft. Move to the sides of the pan and turn the heat up to medium-high.

Add the mushrooms to the pan in batches so that there is no crowding. Allow to brown and release their liquid, and then combine with the onions at the sides of the pan, tossing to combine and then moving back to the sides of the pan. Repeat until all the mushrooms are cooked.

Reduce the heat to low and add the black pepper and broth. Meanwhile, cook the pasta.

When the pasta is cooked, add the cream and cheese to the mushroom mixture and stir until the cheese is melted. Remove from the heat and add the pasta. Toss to coat, adding pasta water if the sauce needs thinning.