Fig, Blue Cheese, Carmelized Onion, Walnut Pasta

I can claim to be the genuine author of this recipe - I made it up a few years ago when I bought some really pretty looking fresh figs at a market. It's a surprisingly fast but gourmet meal. The flavors and textures work amazingly well together - the sweetness of the figs, crunchiness of the walnuts, tangy-bitter taste of blue cheese, and buttery texture of caramelized onions. I originally made it with really wide, seeded whole-wheat pasta from Trader Joe's, but anything will do.


Ingredients

1 pound of your favorite pasta (fusilli works really well)
1 cup figs, cut into small chunks
1 large onion, diced
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 large hunk of soft blue cheese, cut into small chunks
3T butter
1 T brown sugar
salt to taste

Instructions

1) To carmelize the onions: heat butter in non-stick skillet, add onions and toss to coat with brown sugar (and a pinch of salt). Cook on low heat, uncovered, until very soft.
2) Boil water and cook pasta until al dente per the directions on the package.
3) Toss pasta with onions, walnuts, figs, and blue cheese. The blue cheese will melt onto the pasta like a sparse sauce.