Lemon Mascarpone Pasta
on May 25, 2021, Updated Mar 05, 2024
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Lemon mascarpone pasta! We LOVE lemon zest so this is a major ode to that. This pasta is so EASY, creamy, and so so delicious. This pasta dish comes together so quickly, and I love that we will mostly have everything on hand in my fridge and pantry at all times, the flavors are amazing. Use store-bought pasta, or make this with our Homemade Pasta.
What ingredients do you need for lemony mascarpone pasta?
- Spaghetti (or pasta of your choice!)
- Lemon juice and zest
- Mascarpone cheese (cream cheese, heavy cream, or creme fraiche can work too!)
- Pasta water (liquid gold, hello!)
- Unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
Steps To Make This Recipe
Make your pasta
Boil a large pot of water for your pasta. When boiling, add kosher salt and pasta, and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions on your pasta.
Prepare your lemon mascarpone sauce
While your pasta is boiling, heat a skillet or pan with olive oil. Bloom your pepper and add in your butter to melt. Next, on low, you’re going to add in your cheese mixture and melt throughout, adding pasta water as needed to create your sauce. Stir to combine.
Toss your pasta together and serve
Toss in your al dente pasta, and finish cooking with the sauce and adjusting with pasta water and more parmesan of your choice. Finish with mascarpone and toss until everything is creamy and melted together. Turn off the heat and finish off with fresh lemon juice.
Serve with pepper, more parmesan, lemon zest and juice.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
Two things you can do here! 1) it will most likely dry up as you keep mixing and cooking, so be patient. However 2) if it’s extremely watery, add more parmesan.
If your pasta is getting all stuck together, and is not glossy, adjust with more pasta water. ALWAYS save extra pasta water! Do not throw that baby away, it is liquid gold.
Feel free to sub for creme fraiche, heavy cream, or cream cheese!
You can add any protein to this pasta dish, like chicken or shrimp. You can also add any additional vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, spinach, arugula or bell peppers to name a few!
Some ideas & inspiration to serve with this dish
Looking for more pasta ideas?
- Pantry Tomato Pasta with Cilantro & Lemon
- Date Night Lamb Ragu Rigatoni
- Broccolini Pesto & Sausage Orecchiette
- Pasta with White Wine and Mussels
- Pasta with Leeks and Green Peas
If you do make this Lemon Mascarpone Pasta recipe (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and through social media so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter here as well!
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Watch How To Make This Recipe
Lemon Mascarpone Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup shredded parmesan, plus more for serving
- zest of 1 lemon, plus juice
- 1 pound spaghetti, or pasta of choice, or homemade pasta
- Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup pasta water, adjust with more if needed; if watery add parmesan, if too thick, add pasta water
- 2 tablespoons mascarpone
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water for your pasta. When boiling, add kosher salt and pasta, and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions on your pasta.
- While your pasta is boiling, heat a skillet with olive oil. Bloom your pepper and add in your butter to melt. Next, on low, you're going to add in your cheese mixture and melt throughout, adding pasta water as needed to create your sauce.
- Toss in your al dente pasta, and finish cooking with the sauce and adjusting with pasta water and more parmesan of your choice. Finish with mascarpone and toss until everything is creamy and melted together. Turn off the heat and finish off with fresh lemon juice.
- Serve with pepper, more parmesan, lemon zest and juice.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks a lot for this recipe. Absolutely delicious and so easy & quick to prepare. I added shrimps and fresh parsley, all loved it! It was gone before I could take photos 😉
Thanks for your review, Alex! So glad you enjoyed. Love the shrimp add! 🙂