15 Minute Creamy Garlic Pasta Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make pasta stay creamy? ›

You can add some cream, cheese and also a little boiled water in which the pasta was cooked. Adding all these elements will give your pasta sauce a thick and creamy structure.

Recipe Tips

If you don't have double cream, use single cream or crème fraîche instead. Soft cheese, such as cream cheese, can be used as alternative too – it's richer than the cream, so 100g/3½oz should be plenty, along with an extra splash of water.

Cream can be good for pasta sauce because it will give an unctuous richness to the dish. Fat carries flavor well and it will coat your mouth with the flavors of the sauce.

Whole milk is an excellent substitute for heavy cream. It adds richness to your pasta sauce without the excess fat. Simply simmer your favourite pasta sauce with whole milk until it thickens to your desired consistency. The result is a velvety and indulgent sauce that pairs beautifully with pasta.

Either one will give a wonderful balance of flavor and creaminess. Can you use milk instead of cream in pasta sauce? Whole milk or even a dairy-free milk, like almond milk, will work just fine in this recipe. They just won't thicken quite like half and half or cream.

Well, generally not. There are about 60 million Italians, obviously there are people who like it and who use it but it's generally said that the cream covers the flavors and is used by those who cannot cook. Sometimes it's used for "dry" pasta dishes, which need a little creaminess, for example pasta with ham and peas.

While bechamel sauce is made with milk and flour, alfredo sauce is mainly made with heavy cream and cheese. Both have a creamy texture that thoroughly coats pasta noodles, but bechamel tends to be thicker than alfredo sauce.

You don't want the cream to be boiling, just a very gentle simmer at all times. Add the lemon juice last. Lemon juice can curdle cream, I have never had that happen to me as I add it right at the end with the pasta. Also it shouldn't happen if your cream is neither too hot or too cold.

Double cream

This is the most versatile type of fresh cream, it can be used as it is or whipped. Double cream contains 48% fat. Uses: It can be used as a pouring cream over fruit and puddings, used in cooking or whipped and incorporated into dishes or served separately.

Since they are the same product, you can use heavy whipping cream and heavy cream interchangeably. Both are a versatile, all-purpose product for adding thick, creamy elements to sauces to soups to desserts, so it's worth keeping one on hand in your fridge.

Is heavy whipping cream the same as heavy cream? ›

Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are essentially the same thing—they both have over 36% milk fat, and the name just depends on the brand. Whipping cream, however, is slightly different—it contains 30% to 35% milk fat, so it's slightly lighter (it's sometimes labeled light whipping cream).

Heavy cream will transform your sauce

Adding heavy cream to your jarred tomato sauce can transform it into a thicker, richer, creamy sauce that is velvety smooth. Your favorite premade sauce will not only become lighter in color, the cream will add a new depth of flavor to it.

Cheese and dairy give sauces creaminess while butter and oil give them richness. You also don't need to use a lot — these are just for finishing and rounding out the flavors in a sauce. Whole Milk or Heavy Cream: Add a splash and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes to thicken.

Cream sauces can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to reduce to the consistency desired by the chef. Make sure you test the thickness of your sauce by tasting it every 10 minutes.

You don't properly cool the pasta.

"It's not wrong, and I have done it before in the past [but] to make a more creamy pasta dish after cooking the pasta, drain it, and cool it on a sheet tray," he advises.

Using a lid to trap heat in the pot will speed up this process. Water at an adequate boil will cook pasta faster, without suffering a significant temperature drop when the noodles are added, and this will keep your pasta from getting mushy.

You keep it in the fridge and when you re-heat it you add some tablespoons of water with any sauce or oil/butter you use. I know it looks gross as soon as you add it, but it will be soon incorporated into the sauce. I ate 1 day-old pasta that was unrefrigerated for about 15 hours.

Basically, move your hot pasta directly from the water to the sauce, cook the pasta in the sauce for a minute or two, and then add in a few tablespoons of the starchy pasta water. The starchy water helps the sauce emulsify, and should give it a texture that helps it cling to the pasta.