How to Cook Butter Cream Pasta

You don't cook butter cream pasta as much as you merely combine the three components and let their flavors and textures meld into a refined dish that demonstrates the luxury of simplicity. Your main concern is choosing the right ingredients: a thick, dense noodle that can stand up to a cream sauce, such as fettuccini or tagliatelle, heavy cream and farm-fresh, unsalted butter. Beyond the base trio of ingredients, consider a few drops of lemon juice to cut the richness and a pinch of freshly chopped parsley for a suspicion of floridity.

Things You'll Need

Heavy cream
Thick pasta noodles

Unsalted butter

Instructions

Heat heavy cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat until warm. Skim off the coagulated dairy solids, or the "skin," from the surface. You need about 1/2 cup of heavy cream per 1/2 pound of pasta.
Bring a pot of seasoned water to a rolling boil and add the pasta. Stir the pasta for the first 30 seconds then cook it to al dente, about 7 or 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Ladle about a cup of pasta water from the pot and reserve. Drain the pasta in a colander and place it in a large bowl.
Add pinches of cold, unsalted butter to the pasta and stir gently to melt and combine. You want just enough butter to coat each noodle in a glistening, golden sheen without dripping.
Season the warm cream to taste with sea salt and stir to incorporate. Add the buttered pasta to the warm cream and stir it into the cream gently, coating each noodle thoroughly.
Heat the pasta in the cream for about 1 minute or so. You can serve the butter cream pasta as is, or finish it with freshly chopped parsley and a few drops of lemon juice.
Twirl the pasta with a fork and nest it on a plate or in a bowl. Serve immediately.

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