In classic Italian recipes they never actually add cream to pasta. But what do we, non-Italians know? And how can we help getting excited about ‘creamy pasta’?
It’s one of the most comforting foods, albeit not very authentic. Although to be fair, in my collection featured here the recipes don’t tell you to slosh double cream over spaghetti – they are slightly more subtle than that!
Creaminess can be achieved simply by emulsifying some pasta water with grated Parmesan, which is the closest to a classic cacio e pepe. The bundle of recipes below features the quintessential lasagne, a twist on a carbonara (with cream! rebellious!) and a classic Alfredo. Take your pick and take comfort.
Gorgonzola cheese makes the nicest and the creamiest sauce for the wide strands of pasta, even though there’s no cream in use. Fettuccine with fennel, crispy diced bacon and Gorgonzola makes a delicious comforting dish of pasta.
Fennel and gorgonzola fettuccine
RECIPE
It’s a creamy pasta bake, or rather creamy mushrooms mixed with pasta and baked, and you can use double cream or mascarpone for an even richer, velvety taste. It's easy, it's cheesy, it's veggie, it's an ultimate comfort pasta bake.
Penne with leeks and mushrooms
RECIPE
Instead of bechamel, this recipe has a reduced double cream for the sauce – so much easier. Spinach is used frozen and mixed with three types of cheeses, then layered with pasta sheets and the cream sauce.
Spinach and ricotta lasagne
RECIPE
Macaroni cheese is sometimes known as pasta Mornay since that’s what bechamel with added cheese is called. This mac n cheese is made with leeks for extra fibre: the usual elbow pasta with braised sliced leeks is baked in cheesy creamy sauce.
Alfredo sauce is cream cooked with Parmesan, and bucatini is thick spaghetti-like pasta shape. Bucatini makes a great pasta dish coated with Alfredo sauce, a sprinkling of Parmesan, with spinach and a handful of peas.
This is my riff on carbonara, in a rebellious way, against all Italian carbonara commandments: using cream. But this pasta with bacon and Parmesan is made irresistible with a blast under the grill. It is not carbonara but it’s incredibly gorgeous.
Oven baked creamy orzo pasta with wild chanterelle mushroom topping is a wonderful vegetarian main course or a luxurious side for Italian chicken or veal. Use a woodland or exotic mushroom mix if chanterelles are unavailable.
Creamy orzo with chanterelles
RECIPE
Creamy fettuccine with roasted mushrooms is delightfully easy and amazingly tasty. Cooked down cream makes the sauce, oven roasted mushroom slices are stirred into the pasta, with a few dried porcini boosting the umami flavour. And it’s also the most versatile recipe in the world!
Creamy fettuccine with mushrooms
RECIPE
It’s a twist on lasagne, and on cannelloni: a pasta bake with gorgeously layered flavours of salty feta mixed into mild fennel, and creamy spinach sauce as a background to the rolled up, stuffed lasagne sheets.
Fennel and spinach lasagne rolls
RECIPE
Orzo featured again, because it can be placed in a dish dry and covered with liquid before going into the oven, so easy! It tuns out creamy like risotto – no wonder since orzo is pasta in the shape of rice.
Baked orzo with mushrooms and pancetta
RECIPE