Soul-satisfying Creamy Garlic Fusilli Pasta Recipe

This soul-satisfying Creamy Garlic Fusilli Pasta recipe is velvety and nourishing comfort food at it’s best, with corkscrew pasta spirals smothered in a rich cheesy cream sauce flavored with butter and garlic.

I have been picking my brain during this nationwide lockdown to find new and exciting cooking ideas. Often though we just have to make the best with the ingredients we have on hand. One evening I was not in the mood to cook and I prepared this old fusilli pasta recipe that I used to make often for family and many of my friends during college. It is quick, easy and can be enjoyed on its own or along with grilled meat, chicken or fish.

I can’t even recall how this recipe came about but it is something I created entirely on my own and I always enjoy making. For this creamy cheese pasta recipe, I usually use fresh parsley but because I want to leave the house as little as possible due to the conditions right now, I was not able to. So, instead I used dried parsley as this was the only thing I had on hand. I prepare pasta so many different ways. When I’m just not in the mood for a long process I simply cook the pasta for a bit, strain it, add in the cream, add in my ingredients and allow it to cook together with the sauce until it is ready. I wouldn’t recommend preparing it this way if you are making it for the first time though just to be safe. When I am in the mood for cooking, I prepare the sauce and the pasta separately and only add in the pasta once the sauce is ready and at the consistency that I like.

Top Tips for making Creamy Garlic Fusilli Pasta recipe

• If you do not have cream make use of butter, milk and flour by making a quick white sauce and adding cheese, garlic and spices.
• Different herbs can used to enhance the flavour such as dried oregano, mixed herbs and basil to name a few.
• Ina Paarman’s Pasta Spice contains a few key ingredients such as wheat flour, bread crumbs, pecorino cheese, sugar, spinach and garlic and other herbs. This may be helpful if you enjoy making your own spices.
• If you do not have all the spices and herbs available, using just black pepper and salt will work just well together with the other ingredients.
• If the sauce appears to be very light and runny, don’t fret. When the pasta starts to cool, the consistency becomes thicker. If it seems too thick, thin the consistency with milk.

Other uses for the Creamy Garlic Butter Pasta Sauce

• I like to add creamy parmesan garlic sauce to my pasta to make it a bit more exciting and flavorful. Another trick I recently discovered is adding even more cheese (any soft melting cheese) to use it as cheesy sauce for French fries, or slap chips as we know it in Cape Town. This may sound like a weird combination but trust me, you’ll thank me later. I find this to be better than the cheesy french fries at fast food restaurants because this way I can decide what to add and I’ve become a bit obsessed with what I put into my body in the past few years.
• Pouring it over grilled or cooked vegetables are also a fabulous way to incorporate the sauce into your meals. Another tip is to make use of a bit of cornflour (maizena) or plain flour and milk if you do not have cream and this will give you a marvellous result as well.

This recipe can be enjoyed in so many ways, you literally just need to be creative. For a side note, the garlic does not need to be added. I know there are many who are not fond of it but like I said, you just need to play around with it and add what you like, and most importantly, make your cooking experience fun. There are many times when I just whip up a pasta sauce and use basic ingredients.

I hope you find this recipe useful and be sure to have tons of fun if you do decide to give it a try! For more delicious meals click on the links below.

• Chili Garlic Prawn Pasta with lemon butter sauce
• Meat and Cheese platter (Antipasto board)
• Cape Malay Sugar Bean bredie (Suiker boontjie bredie)
• Cape Malay Pepper Steak Pie (Vleis Pastei)
• Cape Malay Chicken and mushroom pie (hoender pastei)

Soul-satisfying Creamy Garlic Fusilli Pasta Recipe

Simone Claudia Fortuin

This soul-satisfying Creamy Garlic Fusilli Pasta recipe is velvety and nourishing comfort food at it's best, with corkscrew pasta spirals smothered in a rich cheesy cream sauce flavored with butter and garlic.

4.55 from 20 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main courses

Cuisine International

Servings 4

Calories 1295 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Pasta

• 350 grams fusilli pasta
• 2 litres water
• 30 ml salt

Creamy Garlic Sauce

• 30 ml cold butter approximately 2 tablespoons
• 15 ml finely crushed garlic (2 large cloves) approximately 1 tablespoons
• 750 ml fresh cream approximately 3 1/5 cups
• 250 grams grated cheese approximately 500 ml or 2 cups
• 5 ml salt (to taste) approximately 1 teaspoon
• 15 ml pasta spice approximately 1 tablespoon
• 1.25 ml freshly ground black pepper approximately 1/4 teaspoon
• 15 ml fresh chopped parsley for garnish approximately 1 tablespoon
• 60 ml full fat milk (optional)

Instructions

 

• Boil the fusilli noodles according the packet instruction in salted boiling water until al dente. This should take no more than 8-9 minutes.
• While the pasta is boiling, melt the butter in a pot over low medium heat and lightly saute the garlic until it is fragrant but not browned or burnt as this will make the sauce bitter. This will take 2-3 minutes.
• Add the cream and allow the cream to simmer for an additional 5 mins on medium heat, while stirring continuously to ensure the butter and cream amalgamate into a smooth sauce.
• Once the cream is lightly bubbling, add cheese and stir for 5 mins until the cheese in thoroughly melted into the cream.
• At this point the mixture will be steaming. Now, add the pasta spice, salt, black pepper and half the chopped parsley.
• Allow the sauce to cook through for 5-7 mins on low-medium heat and stir continuously until the sauce comes to a slight boil.
• Reduce the heat, add the pasta and mix thoroughly. The sauce should now be thick luscious consistency and coat the pasta completely.
• If you have reduced the sauce too much add the milk to thin the consistency.
• Serve and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Notes

• If you prefer more garlic (like we do), use 4 cloves instead of the amount indicated in the recipe.
• Use the best cheese you have available. I used cheddar this time but it's even better with Parmesan.
• I use Ina Paarman's pasta spice but any good quality pasta spice works.
• If you don't have fresh parsley use 5 ml dried parsley instead.
• For added nutrition add 2 cups chopped spinach to the sauce after you add the cream.
• For a kick of lemon add lemon zest to the creamy sauce before serving.
• An alternative garnish can be chopped toasted walnuts.

Nutrition

Calories: 1295kcalCarbohydrates: 76gProtein: 32gFat: 98gSaturated Fat: 61gCholesterol: 339mgSodium: 1006mgPotassium: 480mgFiber: 5gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 3950IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 663mgIron: 3mg

Disclaimer: Nutritional information for the recipe is an approximation and varies according to the ingredients and products used.

Keyword 30 minutes or less recipe, easy, simple recipe

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