"Few meals are as comforting as a bowl of steamy, creamy pasta. But the cost of those decadent cheese-laden noodles is often a heavy, weighed-down feeling afterwards. Sometimes we crave the flavor, sans the post-meal slump. You could skip cheese altogether and go for perfect butter noodles, but if you want something lighter but still creamy and delicious, this easy cheesy swap will hit the spot. When it comes to zhuhzing up your pasta, cream cheese saves the day."
"You can start with as little as two tablespoons, adding it to butter and parmesan to approximate Alfredo, or use as much as a 1 cup (with some shredded cheese) for a whole pan of mac n'cheese, adjusting it up or down depending on your tastes, how creamy you want your pasta, and how present you want that signature cream cheese flavor."
"Avoid lengthy cook times, additional thickeners, and dirtying another pan - let the mantecare technique do the work for you. Do it right and saucing a delectable cream cheese pasta will take you less than ten minutes. Do it wrong and you could end up with a stodgy mess. Simple dishes like this are where al dente pasta is crucial. Even the best sauces can't resurrect mushy noodles. Drain the noodles (saving a fair amount of the pasta water on the side),"
Cream cheese delivers creamy pasta without heavy cream, cornstarch, roux, or flour. Small amounts (as little as two tablespoons) blended with butter and Parmesan approximate an Alfredo, while up to a cup with shredded cheese makes mac and cheese. Adjust quantities to control creaminess and the cream-cheese flavor intensity. The mantecare technique—mixing cream cheese thoroughly with reserved pasta water—creates a smooth sauce quickly. Al dente pasta is crucial because saucing cannot rescue mushy noodles. Saucing done correctly takes under ten minutes; incorrect technique can create a stodgy mess. Reserve a fair amount of pasta water before draining for best results.
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