Creamy pasta sauces can be tricky to pull off. If made entirely with cream, they are heavy, and the rich dairy overpowers any other flavors in the mix. Lower fat dairy is prone to curdling and clumping over heat, and the fix — making a roux before adding the dairy — can result in a grainy sauce. For these reasons, I had avoided making creamy pasta sauce at home, preferring to leave such dishes to restaurants.
But then I came across an ingredient idea in Caroline Chambers’ Substack newsletter, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking — Boursin cheese. She combines the soft and flavor-packed rounds with pasta cooking water to create a creamy sauce that complements, rather than overpowers, the pasta and any other mix-ins.
Her method of combining cooked pasta and vegetables with the sauce ingredients all in one pot was nice and simple but made it hard to get the sauce fully smooth. Instead, I prefer to cook the pasta and vegetables (in this case, chopped asparagus), drain them, and then build the sauce separately before adding the pasta back into the pot. You can still use just one pot, but by first whisking together the cheese and pasta water, you can ensure the sauce is creamy before finishing the dish.
I also found the best complements to the Boursin cheese are lots of cranks of freshly ground black pepper and a generous amount of fresh lemon juice. They brighten the rich sauce, adding heat and tang. Finish with even more pepper at the table.
Creamy Asparagus Pasta
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound fettuccine
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 (5.3-ounce) packages Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese, crumbled into walnut-size pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 lemon
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 7 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook for 2 more minutes. Use a measuring cup to scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta and asparagus. Set aside.
- Add 3/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, Boursin and pepper to the now-empty large pot, off of the heat. Whisk until the cheese has melted into the pasta water. Zest and juice the lemon into the sauce, then whisk again until smooth.
- Add the drained pasta and asparagus to the sauce. Use tongs to toss the pasta in the sauce until well-coated. If the sauce is too thick to coat the pasta, add additional pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is silky. Season to taste with additional pepper. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6.
Per serving, based on 4 (using 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt): 728 calories (percent of calories from fat: 41), 20 grams protein, 89 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams total sugars, 5 grams fiber, 33 grams total fat (18 grams saturated), 104 milligrams cholesterol, 556 milligrams sodium.
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