This lemony Mascarpone Pasta has a deliciously easy sauce that coats the pasta in creamy goodness. Arugula, garlic, and red onion add flavor and texture.
In this recipe, we cook the pasta in its own pot, while building the sauce in a wide skillet. That ensures each are perfectly cooked before we bring them together. If you like this technique, you might also want to try our Pasta with Black Garlic Sauce.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Creamy but light: If you’re looking for a decadent pasta recipe that doesn’t feel too heavy, this is it!
- Done in 15 minutes: Making the mascarpone sauce for pasta at the same time as boiling the noodles means this recipe comes together quickly.
- Vegetarian meal: Great option for when you are serving vegetarians or just looking to reduce the amount of meat in your diet.
🥗 Ingredients for Pasta with Mascarpone
- Red Onion: Feel free to replace this with chopped shallot or with a chopped sweet onion.
- Pasta: We love how the mascarpone sauce clings to the gemelli pasta in this recipe, but you can choose whatever pasta you love. Because you are cooking the pasta separately, it doesn’t matter how long your pasta takes to cook. Spaghetti and fettuccine also work well!
- Butter: We generally prefer using unsalted butter, so that we can control the salt content, but either salted or unsalted butter can be used.
- Mascarpone: You can generally find this in the specialty cheese section of your grocery store, often in a small tub.
- Heavy Cream: You could try half-and-half as a substitute, but don’t replace with milk. It just won’t thicken and give you that creamy texture.
- Arugula: The peppery bite from the arugula is a great match to this pasta, but you could easily substitute baby spinach.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Peel and mince 2 garlic cloves and ½ of a small red onion. Zest a lemon, then squeeze one half until you have 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Bring a large saucepan of water to boil, add a couple of teaspoons of salt, and cook 8 ounces of pasta to al dente according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of cooking liquid before draining.
While pasta is cooking, sauté 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, then add garlic and onions. Sauté until garlic and onions are softened, but not browned, about 3-5 minutes.
Add 4 ounces softened mascarpone cheese and ½ cup heavy cream, stirring to melt the cheese. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens (about 5 minutes).
Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon zest.
Taste and add salt, pepper, and more lemon juice as needed.
Stir in drained pasta and 2 cups arugula.
Toss until pasta is heated through, arugula is wilted, and sauce coats everything (about 1 minute).
Serve immediately.
If pasta sits for a little while and the sauce dries out, add a little of the reserved pasta water while stirring over low heat.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Mascarpone Pasta
As with many creamy pastas, this recipe is not great for make-ahead. The mascarpone sauce will dry out as the pasta cools. That said, you can bring it back to life by tossing it with some warm water or cream, and reheating it. Doing this in a skillet on the stove works best, but you can also reheat a dish of pasta in the microwave. Stop every 15 seconds or so to stir so that the pasta absorbs the new liquid and creates a creamy sauce again.
Mascarpone is an Italian cheese that is made in the same way as traditional cream cheese. But unlike cream cheese, mascarpone uses whole cream rather than milk as its base. Mascarpone can be slightly softer and creamier than cream cheese, but it is very similar, and can be used in place of cream cheese in many recipes.
Leftovers will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, but note that the sauce will dry out as it cools. See the “make-ahead” question above for instructions on how best to reheat it.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Keep that reserved ½ cup of pasta water on hand during your meal. The creamy mascarpone pasta sauce dries up quickly, and you’ll want to add some of that reserved pasta liquid as you reheat the pasta for anyone who goes back for seconds.
Make sure to salt your pasta water before boiling your noodles. That really helps to add flavor to your final dish!
We recommend investing in a set of rubber-tipped tongs. These do an excellent job of tossing pasta in a skillet, without damaging the pan.
Want to pair this dish with the perfect glass of wine? Check out What Wine Goes With Pasta for great tips!
Do you have extra mascarpone in the fridge? Let us give you a few ideas for how to use it:
- use it in this delicious Strawberry Parfait with Mascarpone Cream
- mix with honey to make a sweet spread for toast or bagels or a dip for fruit
- combine with whipped cream (or use instead of whipped cream) to top a dessert
- combine with cream cheese in a cheesecake filling
- make tiramisu
- replace the cream cheese in a danish recipe, like these Cherry Puff Pastry Danishes or these Apricot Danishes
- blend into mashed potatoes
- add into the filling for sweet crêpes, like these Lemon Blueberry Crêpes
- thicken up a risotto with a dollop of mascarpone
Looking for a delicious vegetable side for this dish? Try these colorful Roasted Mini Peppers. Or toss in a batch of these Oven Roasted Red Onions.
This is a lovely pasta dinner for both a regular weeknight and a special occasion like Valentine's Day. Check out more recipes in our Valentine's Day Pasta Dishes roundup.
Other Delicious Pasta Recipes
We love easy, flavorful pasta dishes. For another deliciously creamy option, try this Boursin Cheese Pasta. Or check out these favorites:
If you try this Mascarpone Pasta recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to us.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter. We’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Mascarpone Pasta
This lemony Mascarpone Pasta has a deliciously easy sauce that coats the pasta in creamy goodness. Arugula, garlic, and red onion add flavor and texture.
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ small red onion
- 1 lemon
- 8 ounces gemelli or other pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 cups arugula (about 1 ½ ounces)
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Peel and mince garlic cloves and red onion.
- Zest lemon, then squeeze one half until you have 1–2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to boil, add a couple of teaspoons of salt, and cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of cooking liquid before draining.
- While pasta is cooking, sauté butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, then add garlic and onions.
- Sauté until garlic and onions are softened, but not browned, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add mascarpone cheese and cream, stirring to melt the cheese. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens (about 5 minutes).
- Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon zest.
- Taste and add salt, pepper, and more lemon juice as needed.
- Stir in drained pasta and arugula.
- Toss until pasta is heated through, arugula is wilted, and sauce coats everything (about 1 minute).
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Expert Tips
If pasta sits for a little while and the sauce dries out, add a little of the reserved pasta water while stirring over low heat.
Make sure to salt your pasta water before boiling your noodles. That really helps to add flavor to your final dish!
We recommend investing in a set of rubber-tipped tongs. These do an excellent job of tossing pasta in a skillet, without damaging the pan.
How to Store
Leftovers will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, but note that the sauce will dry out as it cools. Toss with some warm water or cream, and reheat. Doing this in a skillet on the stove works best, but you can also reheat a dish of pasta in the microwave. Stop every 15 seconds or so to stir so that the pasta absorbs the new liquid and creates a creamy sauce again.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 381Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 260mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information is provided as a general reference for users courtesy of the online nutrition calculator Nutritionix.
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag us @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because we’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
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