Recipe: Mascarpone Pasta Sauce


I love to try different pasta sauces… well… I love pasta and with pasta goes pasta sauces. This recipe for Mascarpone Pasta Sauce is the combination of several recipes and some tweeking of my own. Like most of my recipes… it's quick, easy and delicious… and not expensive to make…and the ingredients are readily available.

TIPS

Keep in mind this is a basic sauce that you can add a variety of things to…

I made the sauce with bowtie pasta and threw in mushrooms and peas…. I sautéed about 4 ounces of sliced fresh mushrooms in the oil and butter with the garlic and then added 1 cup frozen thawed peas.

You could also add cooked chicken, prosciutto, shrimp, chopped spinach, sun-dried tomatoes… the list goes on and on…. if you add chopped (finely chopped) spinach… add it to the sautéed garlic then add the mascarpone and cream…….

Be creative!

The sauce will be enough for a pound of pasta and should serve 4.

Enjoy!

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Recipe: Mascarpone Pasta Sauce

All you need:

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely in a food processor
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces mascarpone, at room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Reserved water from the pasta pot
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

All you need to do:

Cook your choice of pasta according to package directions.

**When the pasta is done boiling, reserve at least a cup of the pasta cooking water*** The starch from the pasta in the water will help thicken your sauce.

Drain the pasta.

In the same pot…over medium heat, melt the tablespoon of butter with the tablespoon of oil.

In a mini processor, chop the garlic cloves until they are very finely chopped.

Add the garlic to the melted butter and cook about 3 minutes until soft but not brown.

Add the mascarpone and the cream, stirring until smooth. Add the pasta water a little at a time until you have the desired thickness of the sauce.

Add the Parmesan cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Add any other additions to the sauce you wish.

Add the pasta and toss to coat evenly.

Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives.

Serve immediately.

6 comments:

Judy said...

This looks so delicious. I love mascarpone, but our local Harris Teeter charges an arm & a leg for it. Our local Wal-Mart no longer carries it, so I've stopped buying it. I refuse to pay $5.49 for 8 oz.

Linda said...

Harris Teeter tends to be expensive... luckily I can find it in our other grocery stores...Winn Dixie and Publix

Many cheeses have gotten very expensive... gruyere can cost 16 bucks for a small wedge...I substitute unless it's for something special

The problem with mascarpone...it really has no substitution.. I know some of the food network shows say you can sub cream cheese... but it's just not the same

This recipe... even spending the $5.49 for the mascarpone is still an inexpensive meal...even if you put chicken in... you're still looking at a meal for around 10 bucks for 4...... we're only two but we love leftovers.

figtree said...

I always use mascarpone for dessert, what a great idea!Figtreeapps

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

I LOVE your site, just found it...Your grill section is excellent. And will be doing corn fritters for my annual neighborhood chili cook off

Linda said...

Thanks for the credit for using marscapone in a pasta sauce... but truth be told... I figured it out from a dish I had at a restaurant

Linda said...

I'm glad you really like my site... and you are always welcome.... you will love the corn fritters... very easy to make... My Mom made them when I was growing up... it wasn't until I was in the south did I have them with honey on them... gotta love the south and its sweet tooth!

Enjoy!

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