Partnering with Castello for a Summer of Blue

I’m kinda weird about some foods. I can’t have chicken and eggs in the same meal. I love tons of sugar in my coffee, but never in my tea. I have to eat my M&Ms and gummy bears in a certain color order (and it isn’t the same order for both of them), and although I bake with creamy peanut butter, I can’t stand it on its own. I have to have crunchy peanut butter. I also can only eat blue cheese in certain ways. I can’t have it in a dip with my wings, but I can eat it in a salad, provided there is chicken and berries involved. I can also eat blue cheese if it is in bread, but not on it as in a sandwich.

I don’t really have a good reason as to why I am so particular about how I eat my blue cheese, but I think a good part of has to do with the fact that I believe many ways people use blue cheese doesn’t fully complement the distinctive flavors. I think when used properly, blue cheese is one of the best tasting cheeses, and can really help certain flavors in other foods come out.

That is why I love adding blue cheese to gougères, which are basically savory cream puffs or profiteroles. These blue cheese and crispy pancetta gougères may seem as though they are fancy, but they are actually so simple to make, and are great dinner rolls for a Tuesday night meal. You can eat them on their own, or spread a bit of butter on them, or even fill them with a number of fillings – my personal favorite being garlicy collard greens and meat.

Also, you can easily double the recipe, make them larger and use them as burger buns during a Tuesday night BBQ. Imagine a juicy burger sandwiched between these large blue cheese and crispy pancetta gougères. Yeah, I had to wipe some drool of my chin too.

Yield: about 10 gourgeres

Blue Cheese and Crispy Pancetta Gourgeres

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup white wine
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in cubes
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup Castello crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 cup finely chopped crispy pancetta

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. In a large saucepan, add the wine and butter and heat until the butter melts and the mixture begins to simmer.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper together. Pour the flour mixture into the wine mixture and mix until well combined.
4. Slowly mix in one egg at a time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next. It will seem as though the eggs will never full mix in, but I promise it will after enough mixing!
5. Fold in the blue cheese and pancetta and mix until well incorporated.
6. Fit a piping bag with a large round tip and pipe rounds onto your baking sheet that are about 2 inches wide. Wet a finger with water and use that to smooth out the tops of the dough.
7. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown.
8. Eat as they are, or slice them open and fill with more meat and bitter greens and butter!