Roasted Garlic Butter Farfalle

When I was in high school I was OBSESSED with the roasted garlic chicken pasta from The Cheesecake Factory lol. NGL, that's where I got the inspo for this bad boy. I think the restaurant version has mushrooms and peas in it but I left this one plain jane so that it's easy to customize!

There will be leftover butter, the recipe is intended to make a batch of it. Use desired amount (or the amount I suggest for this quantity of pasta!) and then save the rest. Store it in the fridge for up to a week or store it in the freezer for even longer if you want flavored butter bombs at any time for future pasta dishes, grilled cheeses or amazinggggg toast!

Since you have to make garlic confit for this recipe, I wanted to share a little more about that! My roasted garlic butter uses the garlic, but not the oil. You can store both together or separately (in air-tight containers) in the fridge for a couple of weeks according to google, lol. There are plenty of ways to use the leftover oil, I use it just regular olive oil for things like eggs, to crisp bread or as an oil garnish to top off a soup or pasta dish.

What you need:

• 1/2 lb farfalle pasta (1/2 box)
• 1 stick of softened salted butter (1/2 cup)
• 12-15 roasted garlic cloves (Check out my reels on IG to see how I make garlic confit here. I also added a pinch of red pepper flakes to the garlic confit and for a fall version I add fresh sage leaves - these flavors are optional!)
• 1/2 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese and more for topping
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• Additional optional toppings: fresh parsley and red pepper flakes or cripsy sage for the fall version that's on IG!

What to do:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the farfalle according to package instructions.
2. Mix the roasted garlic cloves into the stick of butter. (The garlic cloves should be completely cooled!! Warm cloves will melt the better and ruin the sauce.) You can do this with a fork or you can blend it in a food processor for an extra smooth texture.
3. Drain your cooked pasta and reserve around 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Add the pasta back into the pot you cooked it in and place it on the stove.
4. Crank the stove heat to medium and immediately add in 3-4 tbsp of the roasted garlic butter, parmesan and heavy cream. Stir the pasta until everything is melted and coated. *Save any leftover garlic butter, store it in the fridge and use it any other way you'd like for up to a week!
5. Once the pasta is coated and looking silky and creamy, it's ready for the parmesan cheese topping to finish it off!