Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, created this mild, surprisingly kid-friendly blue cheese sauce for pasta. The sauce works with just about any seasonal vegetable—tomatoes, mushrooms, onions—or browned sausages or bacon. Fusilli is the ideal pasta for this recipe, because its coils catch and hold the sauce. This particular fusilli features Kernza®, a wheatlike grain with a nutty, buttery flavor and exceptional environmental benefits: a massive root system that regenerates topsoil and draws down carbon.

Ingredients

• 6 oz. fusilli, such as Patagonia Provisions Organic Fusilli Pasta
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium green and/or yellow zucchini, thinly sliced
• 4 mini red bell peppers or 1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 2-3 oz. mild, creamy blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola dolce or Danish Blue
• About ⅔ cup milk
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• Black pepper

Putting It All Together

1. Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add fusilli and cook until just tender, 10-12 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add zucchini and peppers. Cook, covered, stirring every now and then, until the vegetables are barely tender, 6-8 minutes.
3. Break up the cheese and put it in a small pot with ⅔ cup milk. Heat over medium-low until the cheese melts. Meanwhile, in a small cup, dissolve cornstarch in 2 tsp. cold milk.
4. When the cheese and milk comes to a boil, add the cornstarch slurry and stir until the sauce thickens, 10-20 seconds. Remove from heat and grind in plenty of black pepper.
5. Drain pasta, reserving about ½ cup cooking water. Add pasta to the pan of vegetables and stir in blue cheese sauce. If it seems thick, stir in a little cooking water.