This sauce is made with pantry staples you’ll have at home and is SO incredibly quick to pull together. Serve it with gnocchi, gnudi or even roast some veges to serve with it! This would also be fantastic drizzled over a rib eye steak or roast chicken.
Pasta gets me every time but you can really use this for multiple applications. When I make a sauce that isn’t pasta specific I usually roast some potatoes and broccoli to serve on the side to make it a complete meal. It’s a great dish to make when time is tight and you need a reliable quick sauce that is super family friendly.
Main ingredients
Just because the sauce base is simple it doesn’t mean it has to be boring. A simple butter and cream base is just a base to layer on gorgeous flavours. You could stop right there but here are some ideas:
- In the sauce photograph below I have layered on some charred semi dried tomatoes and shaved parmesan.
- Layer all sorts of herbs on top, mint, dill and basil are some of my favourites.
- Toast some panko crumbs to add some crunch and texture. Toast the crumbs in 20g (1.4 tablespoon butter) on a medium heat until golden brown.
- Another tip for texture is to scatter some roughly chopped roasted nuts on top.
- Shavings of parmesan are classic check out my guide for the best.
- Zest some lemon over the top of the finished dish for a pop of freshness and zing.
Pasta
- Pasta of your choice – Could be fresh or dried, a long shape or short shape, they will all work for this sauce.
- Potato Gnocchi – I developed this sauce for gnocchi so that will logically be the best choice! If you have a bit more time and want to make gnocchi from scratch, I also plan to share a recipe for a homemade potato gnocchi soon!.
- Gnud – Another factor in making this sauce was the sauce I made for my homemade ricotta. This gnudi (think of it as gnocchi’s cheesier cousin) is seriously easy and a must try.
- Gluten Free option – An easy gluten free option is the gluten free gnocchi sardi recipe.
Butter and cream sauce
This combination is the magical sauce base for anything. It is the basis for Mac and Cheese and alfredo and other simple pure comfort classics.
- Fresh garlic – Use fresh cloves for this, garlic powder is not the same.
- Salt – SO important in something as simple as this. You really do need to season food properly. This probably looks a lot but remember the finished sauce will be served with pasta or gnocchi which will dilute the seasoning.
- Freshly ground black pepper – Add as much or little as you like.
- Lemon juice – The acid in this sauce is imperative in cutting the richness of the butter and cream. It’s a luscious sauce but it needs the freshness of the lemon to cut through. Use fresh lemon juice.
- Parmesan cheese – Not optional in my opinion, use the best quality you can find and grate it yourself with a microplane or the star side of a box grater.
STEP BY STEP
This is such an easy dish to put together. Have all the ingredients prepped (such as grated parmesan) and ready to go as it is extremely quick. Some people think pasta recipes take forever but you could definitely make this in under 30 minutes.
Heat the butter on a medium high heat until foamy and just starting to brown. Add the garlic and let it cook for 20 seconds before the black pepper and cream. Add the salt, lemon juice and parmesan and mix to emulsify.
ONE : Heat butter in a large skillet until foaming and just starting to brown
Foaming butter is such a great start to any sauce. It will continue foaming once you add the cream but I love adding that golden brown butter flavor to pasta dishes.
Make sure you are cooking this on medium heat and also use a wooden spoon to scrape up any of those brown bits. You could also use a whisk.
TWO : Add the black pepper and cook on a low heat for 60 seconds
This step is to infuse the black pepper REALLY gently into the sauce base so lower heat and stir the sauce constantly. This step infuses black pepper which is slightly different to what is normally in a sauce step by adding to taste afterwards.
THREE : Add the parmesan
It will seem really thick and slightly claggy at first but that’s OK. Turn the heat back down to a very low heat while you do this or you could even add the parmesan pieces off the heat. Then have it on a very low simmer for 4 – 5 minutes.
FOOR : Adding gnudi or gnocchi into the sauce
A key thing to continue to thicken the buttercream pasta sauce and make sure everything is very evenly coated is to let your cooked pasta, gnocchi or gnudi gently bubble away in this delicious sauce for a couple of minutes.
I love to use a large flat whisk to transfer my pasta into the sauce. I never use a colander to drain the pasta as I like to reserve the pasta water and have it in the pot to add to as I like.
Finishing off pasta with lots of lovely extra’s
I always love finishing off dishes with some toppings for flavour and texture. I topped the plate of the pasta pictured with some charred sun dried tomatoes, black pepper, lemon zest, shaved parmesan and some torn basil leaves.
Don’t ever think you have to make a dish look like this to be enjoyable! Adding some herbs or some extra parmesan is an easy way to finish it off.
Expert tips
- Cooking pasta is and should always be the last thing you do when making a pasta dish. I have had rude remarks saying in short cooking time sauces the pasta has gone cold while the sauce is being made. That should never be an issue.
- If you have to cook dried pasta for 10 minutes for example and the sauce only takes 5 minutes to make, start the pasta cooking, wait 3 minutes then start the sauce with 7 minutes left to go on the pasta timer.
- If you are using fresh pasta or gnocchi with an almost instant cooking time then have everything prepped and the pasta in it’s pot with the water boiling and cook it at the last minute and transfer it straight in to the finished sauce.
- Pasta doesn’t keep warm when drained, it dries out and goes gross so you don’t ever need to pre-cook pasta.
- Use my guide to the best parmesan for suggestions to get the perfectly shaved cheese on top of your finished pasta dishes.
- I have used sun dried tomatoes on top here, they work so well in this dish. I char them in a pan for a couple of minutes to get some colour on them and warm them up.
Recipe FAQs
Can I use dried gnocchi?
Of course! I always have a packet or two in my pantry for last minute dinners. It’s a great weeknight staple.
What type of cream should I use?
I use single cream which is also known as light cream. It’s only 17% so just use whatever you would normally use in a pasta dish. Heavy cream can be really rich, especially with the amount of butter used here but whatever you have will work.
How do you thicken cream for pasta?
Cooking the pasta in the sauce on a super gentle heat thickens the sauce slightly. You could also cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than it needs so it can continue cooking in the sauce.
What do you serve pasta with?
When I make a sauce that isn’t pasta specific I usually roast some potatoes and broccoli to serve on the side to make it a complete meal. It’s a great dish to make when time is tight and you need a reliable quick sauce that is super family friendly.
Some other sauces to try
- Best rosemary butter pasta sauce : Obviously the ultimate pasta sauce for any kind of gnocchi or gnudi. Get the recipe
- Mafaldine Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce : This is a versatile sauce and to adapt this recipe with a tomato flavor, try the Mafaldine Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce as an alternative.
- If you enjoyed the richness of this butter and cream sauce but want something with a bit more zest and a touch of heat, try my Lemon Pepper Sauce For Pasta. It’s a surprisingly simple sauce that packs a flavorful punch.
The Recipe
Butter and Cream Sauce Pasta
Ingredients
- Pasta or gnocchi of choice enough for 2 people
- 120 g unsalted butter cubed
- 4 – 5 garlic cloves finely diced or crushed
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅔ cup cream I used single which is 17%
- ⅓ cup finely grated parmesan
Instructions
- In a large pan melt the butter over medium – high heat. Let it melt and then foam and start to brown very slightly.
- Lower the heat slightly and add the garlic and cook for 15 – 20 seconds, stirring the whole time.
- Lower the heat slightly again and add the cream it will sizzle and bubble but that is good when mixed in with the butter it will start to emulsify straight away.
- Add the black pepper, the salt and the lemon juice and whisk/lightly beat to fully emulsify. A rubber spatula works well here too.
- It should thicken really slightly into a smooth buttercream sauce.
- Let it gently simmer on for 3 – 4 mins on the lowest heat you can.
- If you aren't going to serve immediately you'll want to keep it on an even lower heat, you don't want it to have any bubbles breaking on the surface it will reduce down too much and start to split if cooked for too long.
- Toss your cooked pasta/gnocchi into the sauce and season to taste.
- Serve with lots of extra parmesan, black pepper and whatever else you feel like!
