Pasta Cream Sauce (VIDEO)

This luxuriously smooth pasta cream sauce drips from long and slender al dente strands of your favourite pasta for a simple and stunning meal in minutes. This authentic sauce recipe is only two ingredients: cream and Parmesan cheese, and under 10-minutes to make. 

Once you’re a pasta master, you can work on sauce perfection- adding vegetables and protein to your cream sauce for pasta is the next level up. Try this one first with pancetta and peas. 

Before my kids left home for university here in the UK, my biggest fear was that they would starve without me! So, I was determined that they would have a couple of basic recipes they could easily whip up. 

I knew these recipes needed to be minimal ingredients, student-budget-friendly and not too tricky to pull off if they were actually going to cook them. 

This pasta cream sauce recipe was the first on my list. As well as being affordable, quick and easy to put together, it is also customisable. Meaning they can add anything that’s knocking about in the student fridge like bacon, mushrooms, peas… Jello shots?!! OK, maybe not anything (I hope!). 

Ingredients

When a recipe contains so few ingredients it’s vital that each one is as good as it can be! For this pasta cream sauce recipe, you’ll need only pasta, cream and Parmesan. 

You’ll notice there’s no garlic, no stock, no flour, no milk. Garlic will rival the Parmesan, stock will dilute, and milk and flour will thicken the slender sauce. No thank you!

So, let’s talk pasta. I always buy 100% durum semolina pasta made in Italy. If cooked al dente, it offers that much-desired signature chew. While I favour a long pasta for cream sauce, the shape is secondary.

Now, cream. I’ve used heavy (double UK) cream. With a fat content of at least 36%, you’ll achieve a richly decadent sauce that is still pourable.  

Finally, Parmesan cheese. I strongly advise against buying the pre-grated kind. Let me list the reasons (in case you’re new here): 

1. anti-caking agent is added to it meaning the cheese does not incorporate into the sauce fully and the texture will be grainy if not claggy!
2. pre-grated cheese immediately begins to dry out and lose flavour meaning you need to use twice the amount. So, it’s a false economy product.
3. simply, it doesn’t taste as good.

I implore you to invest in a block of the authentic hard stuff, which is widely available in supermarkets, and grate it as needed. Trust me, you will notice the difference.

Using these three simple, but stellar ingredients will result in the most authentic-tasting cream sauce for pasta that you’ll come back to making again and again.

Pasta recipes know-how

Pasta and sauce recipes can be quick and easy. That’s why so many of us eat them on repeat. But are we all getting the best, restaurant-worthy meals from them? What are the professionals doing that you might be skipping at home? Here’s a quick chef’s checklist:

• Add salt to the pasta water. Pasta needs to absorb a little salt so it isn’t bland, and it stops the pasta sticking together. Don’t add oil! That slick-coats the pasta and the sauce slips right off. 
• Cook the pasta to al dente. This means draining the pasts before it gets too soft.
• Reserve a cup of the cooking water. Don’t drain it all away!
• Splash some of the reserved starchy water into the pasta sauce along with the pasta. Pasta is thirsty and can slurp up all the sauce without a little extra liquid. 
• Combine pasta and sauce before serving. The sauce should never be served on top or on the side!

Now you’re a pasta cooking pro, you can flex your skills to any number of pasta sauce recipes. For another creamy pasta sauce, try a 10-minute homemade Alfredo or creamy tagliatelle with bacon and mushrooms.

The same basic pasta tips apply to tomato sauces too; tomato and mascarpone pasta is still creamy but sharpened with tomato and basil. If dairy’s off the menu, this tagliatelle with pancetta recipe can be made omitting the cheese. 

Serving suggestions

Creamy pasta sauce is best suited to long pasta, like fettucine, tagliatelle or This is an affiliate link.linguine. But no-one is judging if you’re just using up the leftover This is an affiliate link.penne, fusilli or conchiglie (they’re the gorgeous shell shapes!).

With a rich and luxuriously smooth white sauce like this one, I want my sides to be three things:

1. crunchy or crisp in texture
2. colourful 
3. sharp or fresh in flavour

With this in mind, I’d serve lemon green beans, a Caprese salad or tenderstem broccoli with vinaigrette. These elements will perfectly balance the plate, visually and nutritionally.

If balance and nutrition aren’t high on your culinary priorities, add garlic bread too!

Did you know that pasta is usually the first course of an Italian meal? Never the main event? And it’s served in modest portions to leave room for the second course which is usually meat or fish. 

This is definitely a philosophy I can get behind! For my classic Italian main course, it would be a mouthwatering, meaty pork osso buco or caper-heavy salmon piccata.

Which would you choose?

Storage and leftovers

When a pasta sauce recipe takes less time to make than boiling the actual pasta, why would you not start again fresh? Besides, leftover pasta that has spent a night in the fridge is shudderingly unappetising!

More creamy pasta recipes

• Chicken and Bacon Pasta
• Orzo Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash
• Creamy Salmon Pasta with Mixed Greens
• Easy Carbonara Sauce
• Tagliatelle with Truffle Sauce