Roasted Garlic Cream Pasta (Printer-friendly)

Al dente pasta tossed in a velvety roasted garlic cream sauce, finished with Parmesan. A comforting Italian classic ready in under an hour.

# What You'll Need:

→ Roasted Garlic

01 - 2 whole garlic bulbs
02 - 2 teaspoons olive oil

→ Pasta

03 - 12 ounces fettuccine or spaghetti
04 - Salt for pasta water

→ Cream Sauce

05 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
06 - 1 small shallot, finely chopped
07 - 1 cup heavy cream
08 - 1/4 cup milk
09 - 2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
10 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
11 - 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
12 - Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

→ Garnish

13 - Extra Parmesan cheese for serving
14 - Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice the tops off garlic bulbs to expose cloves, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and roast for 35-40 minutes until soft and golden. Cool slightly, then squeeze roasted garlic cloves from their skins.
02 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain pasta thoroughly.
03 - Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped shallot and sauté until softened, approximately 2 minutes.
04 - Mash roasted garlic into a paste and add to the skillet, stirring continuously for 1 minute until fragrant.
05 - Pour cream and milk into the skillet, whisking to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly thickened.
06 - Stir in Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg if using. Simmer gently until cheese melts completely and sauce achieves a velvety consistency.
07 - Add drained pasta to the sauce, tossing thoroughly to coat. Add reserved pasta water in small splashes until sauce reaches desired consistency.
08 - Transfer to serving dishes immediately. Garnish with extra Parmesan and fresh parsley if desired. Serve while hot.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • Roasting the garlic transforms it into something sweet and mellow, with none of the bite that usually lingers.
  • The sauce comes together in one pan while the pasta cooks, so you're never juggling too many steps at once.
  • It tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen, but really it's just patience with the oven and a good whisk.
  • Leftovers reheat beautifully with a splash of milk, making tomorrow's lunch something to actually look forward to.
02 -
  • Don't skip reserving the pasta water; its starch is what makes the sauce cling instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
  • If your sauce breaks or looks grainy, it's usually because the heat was too high when you added the cheese, so keep it at a gentle simmer.
  • Roasted garlic can be made a day ahead and stored in the fridge, which actually makes weeknight cooking feel less rushed.
03 -
  • Use a garlic press to mash the roasted cloves if you want an even smoother sauce that disappears completely into the cream.
  • Toast extra garlic bulbs at once and keep the roasted cloves in olive oil in the fridge; they'll keep for a week and make everything better.
  • If you don't have shallots, a small quarter of a yellow onion works just fine, minced small so it melts into the butter.
  • Toss the hot pasta with a tiny drizzle of olive oil right after draining if you're not adding it to the sauce immediately, so it doesn't clump while you finish the sauce.
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