Blue cheese — it's not just for salads anymore

It ain't easy being cheesy, especially if you're blue — blue cheese, that is. Love it or hate it, most folks have a strong reaction to its robust flavor. But how can you use it in your next meal? Mark Molinaro, a chef at the New England Culinary Institute, was invited on the “Today” show to share some alternative ways of cooking with blue cheese. Here are the recipes.

Everyman’s BLT
4 ounces bacon
Crusty ciabatta bread loaf
4 tablespoons butter
8 slices of organic heirloom tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups organic greens
4 slices Bayley Hazen blue cheese

Cook bacon in frying pan over medium heat until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside on paper towel. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon fat.

Slice bread horizontally. Butter both sides and fry both sides in a frying pan greased with butter until toasted.

Top one bread piece with bacon, blue cheese, and tomato slice seasoned with salt and pepper. Sprinkle greens with bacon fat and add to sandwich. Top with other piece of bread and slice into four sandwiches.

Serves 4

Free-Form Blue Cheese Lasagna
1 cup water
1/2 cup fava beans
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup leeks, chopped
1/2 cup clean chanterelle mushrooms, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
12 large lasagna noodles, cooked
1 cup Bayley Hazen blue cheese, crumbled

Bring water to boil in a small saucepan. Add fava beans and cook for one minute. Remove beans from pan and set aside.

Melt butter with olive oil in a 10-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook over medium to low heat until there is no color. Add blanched fava beans and chanterelles, salt and pepper, and thyme. Toss all together.

Place three lasagna noodles on the bottom of a large bowl. Add 1/4 of vegetable mixture. Crumble 1/4 of blue cheese atop vegetables. Repeat three times and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Blue Pear Tarts
12 ounces Jasper Hill Farm’s Bayley Hazen blue cheese
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salt, to taste
2 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
6 pre-baked tartlet shells (can be bought frozen, bake before filling)
6 pears, poached and sliced in half
Sprinkle of sugar

Preheat oven to 325°F. Cream Bayley Hazen blue cheese and mascarpone in mixer equipped with paddle until smooth. Add sugar, zest, vanilla, salt and eggs. Add flour. Mix until smooth and blended.

Divide filling between tart shells. Top with pear half. If desired, sprinkle a little sugar on top of tart. Bake at 325°F until brown and filling is slightly puffed.

Serves 6

If you'd like more information on Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vt., visit their Web site at www.jasperhillfarm.com.

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