Garlic Capellini Pasta is a quick and easy Italian dinner of thin pasta tossed with Parmesan cheese, peas, and a creamy lemon garlic sauce.
Next time you need a quick and delicious Dinner Recipe, look no further. Pasta dishes like this are fast and easy but always hit the spot. Try classic Spaghetti and Meatballs, Chicken Alfredo, and Bacon Carbonara pasta for more easy, classic pasta meals.
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Sabrina’s Garlic Capellini Pasta Recipe
This simple pasta dish is a great weeknight meal when you want something delicious and family-friendly without much prep time. All you have to do is cook the extra-thin pasta in boiling water. Then, it only takes a few minutes to combine the creamy sauce on the stovetop. After cooking the sauce, you’ll add the pasta and frozen peas and mix it all together for the perfect comfort food dish.
This cheesy pasta recipe will surely be a hit with the whole family. Even picky eaters can’t resist the incredible combination of pasta, creamy sauce, lemon, Parmesan, and garlic. It’s a simple and versatile dish you’ll return to repeatedly.
Ingredients
- Capellini pasta: This recipe calls for 1-pound dry pasta. Capellini is a type of Italian pasta that’s like a thinner version of spaghetti. The long, thin pieces of pasta are great for twirling in the creamy sauce to soak up all the fantastic flavor.
- Butter: The sauce recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of butter. Butter adds amazing flavor to the garlic sauce and helps brown the garlic, giving it a rich, nutty flavor. Extra virgin olive oil is the best alternative for this dish if you don’t want to cook with butter.
- Garlic: To get the rich garlic flavor for this dish, use 3 garlic cloves. Finely mince the fresh garlic before adding it to the hot skillet. That way, it can evenly flavor the sauce, and you don’t have to worry about biting down on a big piece of garlic while enjoying your meal.
- Heavy cream: Cream is the base liquid for the sauce recipe. As you cook it with the garlic, the heavy cream will thicken into a sauce-like consistency. The velvety texture of the heavy cream glides over the Capellini pasta beautifully.
- Lemon juice: At the same time, you add the heavy cream mix in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. The lemon juice contrasts with the bold flavors from the garlic to add more light and bright flavor notes to the dish.
- Peas: Peas blend their natural flavor’s sweetness with garlic’s savory taste. Make sure to thaw the peas fully. Bring them to room temperature that way they will warm up quickly in the hot pasta and sauce.
- Parmesan: Grated Parmesan cheese is the perfect addition to any creamy pasta dish. It adds a distinct, sharp flavor and brings the whole recipe together. Pre-grated parmesan is the most accessible, but you can buy fresh parmesan and shred it for a sharper taste.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Large Pot or Pasta Pot: A pasta pot is a specialized cooking pot for boiling pasta. It typically features a large capacity, a straining lid, and sometimes a built-in pasta strainer. Choose a large pot of 6 to 8 quarts for an even cook.
- Instant Pot: An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker with multiple functions, unlike traditional stovetop pressure cookers.
- Colander: A colander is known as a pasta strainer.
- Tongs: Use tongs to grab the Capellini from the colander and put it into your sauce.
How to Make
Time needed: 20 minutes.
- Cook Pasta
To start, add Capellini pasta to a large pot of boiling water and cook pasta for 1 minute shy of the box instructions. Cooking 1 minute less will keep the noodles slightly al dente but not too crunchy. Drain the pasta water, and set the cooked pasta to the side without rinsing.
- Saute Garlic
Heat butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Let the butter melt. Add the minced garlic cloves. Stir as you cook for 30 seconds to make the garlic fragrant.
- Add the Cream
Add heavy cream, kosher salt, black pepper, and fresh lemon juice to the pan and stir well.
- Simmer and Thicken
Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Be careful not to let the sauce come to a boil.
- Combine Pasta
Add the cooked pasta, Parmesan cheese, frozen peas, and lemon zest to the garlic sauce. Stir to combine and cook for another minute until the pasta is warmed.
- Garnish and Serve
Then top the Garlic Capellini Pasta with additional Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley to garnish.
Can this be made ahead of time?
If you want to prep this recipe in advance, keeping the pasta and sauce separate is best. You can prepare the recipe a few days in advance, then keep the Capellini noodles and garlic sauce in two separate containers in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve the recipe for dinner, add the sauce and pasta to a large pan. Stir the recipe together and reheat the dish over medium heat until the pasta is warm and the sauce is lightly bubbling.
Nutritional Facts
What to Pair With Creamy Garlic Pasta
A simple garden salad with Italian Dressing Mix is an easy, homemade, zesty salad dressing mix with pantry seasonings like garlic salt, oregano, thyme, basil, and parsley.
You can serve Garlic Capellini Pasta on the side of a main course like Garlic Butter Salmon or Baked Rosemary Chicken. Creamy pasta can also be a main course with Garlic Bread and veggies on the side. To make it more filling, try slicing leftover chicken strips and adding them to the pan to simmer along with the pasta and sauce.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave this creamy pasta recipe at room temperature for over 2 hours.
- Store: If you have leftover pasta, wait for the dish to cool completely. Then, transfer the sauce and noodles to a zip-lock bag or another airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: Unfortunately, the creamy sauce will separate if you freeze and thaw it, and frozen noodles don’t maintain their texture well. It’s better to serve this dish within a few days of making it than to try to keep it in the freezer.
Instant Pot Garlic Capellini Pasta
- Place the Capellini pasta at the bottom of your instant pot.
- Then, cover the pasta with water. You can use broth instead of water for more flavorful pasta.
- Close the instant pot lid and set the vent to its sealed position.
- Pressure cook the noodles at high pressure for 5 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, quickly release the pressure. Then, stir and drain the pasta.
- Set the instant pot to saute mode, and add the butter and garlic.
- Using the saute setting, add the heavy cream and lemon juice and bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Then add the Parmesan, cooked pasta, peas, and lemon zest. Stir to combine, then serve the instant pot noodles warm.
Frequent Questions
These types of pasta are pretty similar. They’re both long, thin noodles. However, angel hair pasta is slightly thinner than capellini pasta.
Adding protein is an easy way to make this pasta recipe a more filling main course. Fortunately, the simple pasta sauce goes great with a variety of meat dishes. Grilled Chicken or seafood would pair beautifully with this dish. You could also use it as an opportunity to use up leftovers like Roast Chicken or Rotisserie Chicken.
Because Capellini is thin, it’s typically served with lighter toppings. The thin pasta is great for oil-based sauces and light vegetable or cheese toppings. This recipe uses a cream sauce that is still fairly light and not too heavy, so the thin noodles won’t fall apart.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound Capellini pasta
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- 1/2 cup frozen peas , thawed
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- parsley , for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the pasta one minute shy of the time on the box, drain but do not rinse and set aside.
- Add butter to a large heavy skillet on medium high heat.
- Add the butter to the pan.
- Add the garlic, stirring and cooking for 30 seconds.
- Add in the heavy cream and lemon juice, stirring well.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add in the cooked pasta, Parmesan cheese, thawed peas and lemon zest.
- Garnish with additional Parmesan cheese and parsley.
Nutrition
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Variations
- Seasonings: You can alter the flavor of this recipe according to your taste by introducing new herbs and spices. Add red pepper flakes, dried oregano, parsley, basil, lemon pepper, or an Italian seasoning blend. Be careful not to go too heavy with the spices, or you can overwhelm the other unique flavors.
- Vegetables: Delicious vegetables can enhance this recipe’s flavor, texture, and color. At the same time, you add the peas and try mixing in halved cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, and bell peppers. If you prefer, you could substitute the fresh cherry tomatoes for sun-dried tomatoes.
- Cheese: Besides the parmesan cheese topping, you could sprinkle on mozzarella, gorgonzola, asiago, or provolone cheese.
- Types of pasta: If you don’t have Capellini, you can make this recipe with other types of long and thin pasta. Regular spaghetti, angel hair pasta, or Fedelini are delicious pasta options that will work well for this recipe. You can even go with a thicker option like linguine.
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