Pasta Cream Sauce Recipe

overhead shot of creamy pasta and chicken on a black plate

An easy, silky, and decadent cream sauce that can be varied in all sorts of ways. This version is flavored with smoked black pepper and garlic.As written, this recipe serves two for a romantic meal. The sauce doubles easily and you will probably have enough to nicely sauce 12 oz of pasta. Since the sauce is really rich, it should serve 4-5 people.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian-ish

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

To Marry the Sauce to the Pasta 3

Total Time 23

Servings

Calories 543kcal

Author Jennifer Field

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
⅜ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cracked smoked black pepper or regular
¼ teaspoon freeze dried garlic or 1/2 clove garlic, sliced
.75 oz 1.5 Tablespoons cream cheese
.75 oz Asiago cheese finely grated
4 oz fettuccine or pasta of choice
¼ cup reserved cooking water from the pasta you may not use all of it
4 oz chicken tenders sauteed in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper
salt and smoked black pepper or regular to taste

Instructions

To Make the Sauce

Place the heavy cream, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cream cheese in a wide sauce pan.
Turn the heat to medium high, and stirring frequently, bring the mixture up to a full boil. Boil a few minutes until the sauce thickens to coat your spoon or spatula.
Remove from heat and add the finely grated cheese and stir until completely melted and smooth.
Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Set aside.
NOTE If using fresh garlic, strain the sauce to remove the slices

To Cook the Pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Salt it liberally, and then add the pasta.
Boil about 2 minutes less than the package states.
Once the pasta has just about cooked, dip out 1/4 cup of the cooking water with a measuring cup and set aside.
Drain the pasta and return to the pot.

To Marry the Sauce to the Pasta

Pour/scrape in the pasta sauce and about half the cooking water.
Cook over medium-high heat, stirring gently so you don't break up the pasta.
If the mixture seems a little dry, add an additional tablespoon or two of cooking water.
Boil the pasta in the sauce, stirring constantly (gently), until the sauce has thickened back up and coats the pasta beautifully.
Serve immediately with a bit extra smoked black pepper and some flaky salt for garnish.

Video

Notes

Prep

Here's what you'll need to do before you start cooking:

measure out your ingredients
grate the Asiago
if you don't like coarse pepper (the way the Whiskey Barrel Smoked Black Pepper comes) grind it finer in a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder. I like it coarse, so I just leave it alone and use it as is

To Double the Recipe

Here are the ingredient amounts if you're doubling the recipe. A double recipe should feed 4-5 people.

2 cups heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked or cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon freeze dried garlic or 1 clove, sliced
1.5 oz cream cheese
1.5 oz finely grated Asiago cheese
8-12 oz fettuccine (this is more than double the original recipe, which is 4 oz of pasta. But the extra sauce can take it)
1/2 cup pasta cooking water (you may not use it all)
4 oz sauteed chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces

The procedure is exactly the same as for 2 servings.

Variations

There are plenty of ways to switch up this basic creamy pasta sauce. I served mine with sauteed chicken tenders.

Here are some other ideas:

add cooked shrimp
serve it with a broiled salmon fillet
stir in some fresh spinach during the last minute of cooking
add crumbled bacon for an egg-free spin on carbonara
use this as a sauce for your favorite fresh, frozen, or homemade ravioli
consider saucing gnocchi with it (yowza!)
add your favorite spice blend to the cream sauce to alter the flavor.
zest in some lemon zest. That would be a lovely addition!
stir in sauteed mushrooms
mix in ground beef for a ridiculously rich and tasty homemade Hamburger Helper
use any of these ideas in combination with each other (that make sense), or come up with your own variations!

Substituting Other Cheese

I used Asiago because a)I had it, and b)it tastes a bit like Parmesan but is cheaper.

By all means use another hard grating cheese if you have it. Aside from Parmesan, which would be excellent, consider

Pecorino Romano
Grana Padano (much like Parm but less expensive and a bit softer)
Provolone
switch it up and use a smoked cheese to add to the smoky goodness of the smoked black pepper

Freezing

Don't do it. Make as much or as little sauce as you need and try to use it all up. If you have leftovers, opt to refrigerate and gently reheat rather than freezing.

Nutritionals

Nutritional information based on 1/2 recipe, including the 2 oz of chicken tenders sauteed in a little olive oil per serving.

You can leave out the chicken and just serve it as creamy pasta, or you can use any of the variations I mention above.

Please note that the nutritional information will not reflect any changes you make and that it is just a good estimate to begin with. Thanks, and enjoy!

Nutrition