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Italian
Creamy Penne Pasta Lunch
30 min total10 prep20 cook4 servings560 cal
VegetarianClassicContains glutenContains dairy
Penne tossed in a silky garlic-parmesan cream sauce with a hint of chili and fresh herbs. A quick, crowd-pleasing lunch that comes together in about half an hour.
Ingredients
pantry
- 400 gpenne pasta
- 1 tbspolive oil
- 0.5 tspred chili flakes
- 0.5 tspblack pepper
- 1 tspsalt
dairy
- 1 cupheavy cream
- 0.75 cupparmesan cheese
- 2 tbspunsalted butter
produce
- 4 clovegarlic
- 3 tbspfresh parsley
Steps
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
- Cook the penne until one minute short of al dente, then reserve a cup of pasta water and drain.
- Mince the garlic and chop the parsley.
- Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and chili flakes and sauté for about a minute until fragrant.
- Pour in the cream and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring, for 2–3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parmesan until the sauce is smooth.
- Add the drained penne and toss to coat, loosening with reserved pasta water as needed.
- Season with black pepper and adjust salt to taste.
- Stir in most of the parsley and toss once more.
- Serve topped with extra parmesan and the remaining parsley.
Tips
- Salt the pasta water generously — it should taste like the sea.
- Reserve a cup of starchy pasta water to loosen and emulsify the sauce.
- Cook the pasta one minute short of the package time; it finishes in the sauce.
- Take the pan off the heat before adding the cheese so the sauce stays smooth.
