Spaghetti with Pesto Cream Sauce

My Spaghetti with Pesto Cream Sauce is a mountain of pasta that will make the pasta gods sing! This simple and delicious dish combines perfectly cooked spaghetti, aromatic basil pesto and rich and velvety heavy cream to create a decadent and satisfying bite!

This saucy pasta is topped off with Burrata, the crown jewel, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Burrata is an Italian cow’s milk cheese. It has a soft mozzarella outer shell and a rich and creamy stracciatella filling. The filling is comprised of a combination of mozzarella shreds and cream. Cut the Burrata open and watch the luscious cream ooze out over a mountain of pasta! Talk about dinner and a show! So, let me show you how it’s done! Grab a spoon and come and cook with me!

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 454g (1 lb.) uncooked spaghetti

• 1/2 cup store-bought or homemade basil pesto (See Notes below)

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

• 125g Burrata (See Notes below)

• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, as a topping

Instructions:

1. Cooking the Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta al dente, in accordance with package instructions, or to your desired level of doneness. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and then drain.

2. Making the Pesto Cream Sauce: While the pasta is cooking, to a large skillet set over medium-low heat, add the basil pesto and heavy cream and let it warm through for 1 - 2 minutes. Stirring often.

3. Toss the cooked pasta into the pesto cream sauce and give it a good mix, ensuring that the pasta is well coated in sauce. Cook for 1 minute to allow the pasta to finish cooking and for the flavours to meld. If the sauce is too thick, add some of that reserved pasta water to achieve your desired sauce consistency.

4. Turn off the heat and season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste.

5. Assembly the Dish: Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and top it with Burrata. Drizzle olive oil over top. Slice the Burrata open with a knife and watch the stracciatella ooze out. Break the cheese into piece and give the pasta a good mix. Serve and enjoy! Buon appetito!

Notes:

1. Make Your Own Pesto: If you're feeling creative and have a ton of basil on hand, then try your hand at making your own pesto at home. Simply check out my Homemade Basil Pesto recipe for a list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions on how to make the easiest and best pesto! This pesto adds a ton of flavour, complexity, brightness, acidity and freshness to this pasta dish. Bonus points - you can repurpose the leftover sauce and use it as the base sauce for your pizza or as a topping on your favourite protein - such as chicken, pork, steak, fish or even a fried egg. Or, you can use it in my Chicken Margherita or Ultimate Ciabatta Sandwich recipes. This sauce is so versatile and really goes the distance!

2. Burrata Change-Up: The Burrata really makes this pasta a decadent dish. But, if you don’t have Burrata at home or can’t find it at your local grocer or market, then you can simply substitute it on a 1:1 basis with fresh Mozzarella or Ricotta.