Gorgonzola Soup

Ever since the time I moved in with boyfriend, he has been asking me to make him gorgonzola cheese soup.  For months and months he has been giving me this idea, telling me to add it to the weeks menu.  I asked where this suggestion came from?  Boyfriend says he had a gorgonzola soup at a restaurant in Buffalo.

I asked "What else was in the soup?" 

The response I got was "I don't know, it had gorgonzola cheese!" 

"Well, was it a brothy soup or a creamy soup?"

"Creamy and cheesy!"

"Were there any vegetables in it?  What was the base of the soup?"

"I don't know, cheese?"

So, you can tell that boyfriend, while he enjoys a good soup, loves gorgonzola cheese.  He is also not one to taste the mild flavors in a meal.  Especially when cheese is involved.

I knew right from the start that this soup could not possibly be just broth and gorgonzola cheese.  That would be disgusting.  I knew that it had to have been a vegetable based soup, finished off with gorgonzola cheese.  Gorgonzola is a very pungent cheese and you don't need a lot of it for flavor.

I settled on a potato-leek soup base and finished it off with some caramelized pears.  The verdict?  The soup is just what boyfriend wanted.  I got back a bowl of caramelized pears, sitting in an otherwise empty bowl.  Someone doesn't like fruit.

One Year Ago: Chocolate-covered Cherry Fondants

Gorgonzola Soup

A Wilde Original

Personally, I loved the caramelized pears with this soup.  They were a sweet pop of flavor in each bite of soup.  If you would like to lighten this soup up a little, switch out the cream for either 2% or skim milk.  If you make the soup with this recipe, you won't need to dish out much per serving.  This soup is rich!

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 large leeks, white parts only, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 d'Anjou pear, peeled & chopped

Heat butter and olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.  Add leeks and garlic and stir to coat in oil, cook for 3 minutes.  Add potatoes and stir to combine, cook for 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock and reduce heat to medium-low.  Allow to simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Puree soup in a blender or with a handheld immersion blender.  Add cream and return to the heat.  Stir in cheese (saving about 1 tbsp for garnishing), salt and pepper.  (If the soup is too thick, add chicken stock until you reach the desired consistency)  Keep warm over low heat while you prepare the pears.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add pears and sugar.  Stir to coat pears in sugar and butter.  Saute until slightly caramelized.  Serve each bowl of soup with a sprinkling of pears and gorgonzola cheese.