The local Fred Meyer market has gorgonzola chicken pasta salad, and I’d like to try to make it.
I have an idea that I would cook some penne pasta; mix in crumbled gorgonzola, chicken chunks, and chopped parsley; and chill. Does that sound right? It seems too simple. Maybe there should be a little milk in it? Something else?
Has anyone made this, and can you point me in the right direction?
Grazzi! 
Pasta salad usually has a dressing of some sort. For a creamy dressing, use mayo, garlic mayo, or some bottled creamy salad dressing. For a vinaigrette-style dressing, use olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, herbs, garlic, maybe some onions. Or use a bottled vinaigrette.
Don’t put milk in it.
Six and a half years, and I still haven’t made it.
We had some of Fred Meyer’s chicken-gorgonzola pasta salad the other day. Roomie says she’d like to try to make it. I suggested that the dressing is mayonnaise, but she disagrees. She thinks it might be blue cheese salad dressing. She says she’s familiar with mayo as the dressing, and it’s not mayo. I don’t think it tastes much like blue cheese dressing. If we knew what the dressing was, then we could make it. I thought I’d ask again for suggestions.
Grazie! (Corrected spelling.)
I usually end up with this by default (or design, really) the day after we have gorgonzola pasta sauce. Actually more often gnocchi. I make mine really simply. Cook the pasta or gnocchi, drain it so there’s just a tiny bit of water left, put it back on a lower heat, crush in a couple of cloves of garlic and add double cream. Warm it up, then throw in gorgonzola, crushed dried porcini and black pepper. Let the cheese melt and finish with basil. It’s lovely hot, and if anything even nicer for lunch the next day. You could add whatever meaty chunks you wanted.
For the pasta, I would just look up spaghetti gorgonzola or pasta gorgonzola online, then cut up some chicken breasts, brown them and add to the mix.
Johnny, have you tried reading the ingredients? Or asking the deli?
I’d bet it’s at least a mayo-based sauce (blue cheese salad dressing would most likely be mayo-based also). Unless they’ve figured out how to hook people on the evil non-mayo Salad Dressing (aka Miracle Whip) <cackles maniacally>.
I tried looking up the ingredients online. No luck. I can try asking the deli next time I go there, which is about once a month or two.
I don’t think it’s Miracle Whip. It’s not sweet.
Personally, I would start with a basic pasta salad, and then dress it one of two ways: either with a normal vinaigrette and then chunks of gorgonzola, or a mayonnaise-and-sour cream/creme fraiche/yogurt dressing with chunks of gorgonzola (in other words, a bog standard blue cheese dressing). I would also probably put some kinds of nuts and dried fruit in there. (Like, say, slivered almonds and raisins, or walnuts and cranberries.) Heck, even fresh strawberries would work well in there.
Oh hell, I didn’t see that this was for a salad. I’d probably still go with a thinned white sauce w/gorg, as if you were making a hot version, then let it cool and serve as a dressing. Maybe not.
Gorgonzola, Grape and Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad
1 lb. penne pasta
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts seasoned w/lemon pepper
2 cups red grapes
4 green onions, sliced thinly
1/3 cup coarsley chopped pecans
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese (Winco in tubs, or you can buy chunks & crumble yourself)
1 cup mayo (don’t be cheap, use Best Foods)
2-3 T. olive oil (I don’t like the taste all that much, so I try not to let it take over)
2 T. seasoned rice vinegar (yes I use it a lot - what of it? Use cider vinegar if you aren’t hip)
3-4 T. sugar (to taste - some like it sweeter than others)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
A few grinds of black pepper
OK, we’ve gone over this before…cook the pasta according to direction, NOT al dente. And when it’s done, drain in a colander and run COLD water over until it’s completely cold…stick your hand in the middle and feel it to make sure (AFTER you wash it, silly…). Dump in a large bowl.
I “grilled” my chicken in a panini type grill, but have also done it outside, and even resorted to cooking it in the microwave when I was in a real hurry. No one cares…I just like the grill marks and eating the crispy edges. Cool until you can handle and slice thinly, then cut slices in half so they aren’t really long. Spread out and let cool until you have everything else ready.
Dump everything else in the bowl, nuts, grapes, onions, cheese and all the dressing stuff and mix well - give it a taste and adjust as needed, then throw in the cooled chicken and give it a stir. Voila! You now have a salad so fabulous that you should take a picture…which WILL last longer! Not everyone likes gorgonzola - it’s like a milder version of blue cheese to me - but you can add less or more to your taste - that flavor will be more pronounced if you make it ahead, so be forewarned. And if you need to refresh it after keeping it in the fridge, you can do so with a tad more olive oil, warm water or even milk products…just enough to loosen it up if it’s gotten clumpy.
Sounds really good!
I don’t think Johnny LA should have any problems getting the ingredients from the deli; in this day and age of common allergies and restrictive food diets, any deli that doesn’t tell you what’s in something shouldn’t be getting any business.