This cheese spread makes a wonderful antipasto when served with fresh vegetables and bread.
Ingredients
- ½ pound Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tsps anchovy paste
- 3 hard cooked eggs, finely chopped
- ¼ cup Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
- ¼ tsp fennel seed
Directions
- Cream the Gorgonzola and cream cheeses together until smooth.
- Blend in the anchovy paste, eggs, parsley, and fennel seeds.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Mound on a serving platter and surround with vegetables and bread or crackers.
Note: Don’t be afraid of the anchovy flavor. Anchovy paste has milder taste than canned anchovies often used on pizzas. This looks especially nice when dolloped on endive and placed on a platter in a star pattern. If you have a guest eating low carb this dish makes a wonderful salad.
Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese with a long and important history. The production of Gorgonzola dates back to the 9th century. This is a cow's milk cheese, with a sharp, spicy flavor and a creamy texture. Tradition has it that the green-blue molding was originally a mistake. The Italians are adventurous foodies they tried it. They liked what they tasted, and the cheese became a mainstay of Italian cuisine.
There are two types of Gorgonzola. The sweet Gorgonzola is also called "mountain" cheese and should be nice and creamy and have a light blue vein through it. The piccante, or "natural", Gorgonzola should be fresh and have a lot marbling of mold through the cheese. It also has an intense, sharp flavor.
