Four Cheese Pasta

4 cheese pasta served in large white bowl

5 from 6 votes

This four cheese pasta is luxuriously smooth and silky, ultra cheesy and utterly delicious. Better still, it only takes 15mins to make!

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £2 / $2.50

Equipment

Large Deep Frying Pan & Wooden Spoon
Large Pot & Colander
Fine Cheese Grater
Jug (for milk/cream)

Ingredients

400g / 14oz Short Cut Pasta
120ml / 1/2 cup Whole Milk
120ml / 1/2 cup Double/Heavy Cream
80g / 3oz Taleggio, rind removed and roughly diced (see notes)
50g / 1.75oz Gorgonzola, roughly diced
50g / 1.75oz Gruyere, finely grated
40g / 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano,
1/4 tsp EACH Nutmeg, Salt, White Pepper or to taste (sub black pepper)

Instructions

Add the pasta to salted boiling water and cook to the package instructions minus around 2 mins (should still be a teeny bit hard). Just before draining, retain a cup of the starchy pasta water.
In a large deep pan over low-medium heat stir together milk and cream until combined. As the cream begins to warm, add the Taleggio and Gorgonzola and stir until they blend into the sauce. Keeping the heat on low-medium, and without the sauce coming to a rapid simmer, keep gently stirring for 4-5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
Turn the heat to very low, stir in the Gruyere and Parmigiano until they blend with the sauce, then season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. I typically do 1/4 tsp of each, but work to taste.
Add in the pasta alongside around 1/3 cup of the starchy pasta water. Stir and toss the pasta in the sauce for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens into a silky sauce that clings to the pasta. It should no longer be watery, instead a light, silky/glossy sauce. The pasta should be perfectly al dente. Keep stirring until you reach this consistency (see video for reference). If it over-thickens or the pasta needs a little more cooking, just stir in more starchy pasta water as needed.
Serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

a) Low Heat - you want to keep the heat on a low-medium, no higher. If at all the sauce starts rapidly bubbling just turn down the heat. The sauce will thicken and come together, just make sure it's thickened before you add in the grated cheese.

b) Cheese Subs - You can sub different cheeses, I recommend keeping to similar textures and flavours though. Here are some similar options:

Taleggio - Fontina or Brie.
Gorgonzola - Any other mild blue cheese i.e. Dolcelatte (even if you don't like blue cheese I recommend adding this, it's a small amount so quite mellow, but still packs a good amount of flavour).
Gruyere - Comté.
Parmigiano Reggiano - Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.

c) Can this be reheated? - I don't recommend reheating leftovers in the microwave, it'll dry up and go grainy. Just reheat on low heat with a splash of milk in the pan to regain its sauciness.

d) Calories - based on using whole milk, no extra cheese to top and divided by 4.

Nutrition