This fabulous creamy mascarpone pasta recipe comes from Lombardy in Northern Italy, particularly the city of Lodi in the heart of the Po Valley. Traditionally made with maltagliati pasta, this is one of the easiest pasta recipes to make. Of course, you can use other pasta types instead.
Recipes with mascarpone.
Italians use mascarpone in many recipes from desserts to savory dishes, including with pasta. Probably the most famous sweet mascarpone recipe is tiramisu. Although tiramisu is said to have originated in Friuli Venezia Giulia or Veneto, mascarpone comes from Lombardy.
Mascarpone.
So, what is mascarpone? This creamy cheese is actually an acid set cream cheese, meaning it’s made by curdling milk or cream using natural souring agent such as lactic acid bacteria or lemon juice. Indian paneer is made in a similar way. Unlike many other Italian cheeses, mascarpone is vegetarian as they don’t use animal rennet to make it.
Mascarpone originated in the late 16th or early 17th century in Lombardy, Northen Italy in the area between Lodi and Abbiategrasso, south of Milan.
According to Wikipedia, the name mascarpone comes from ‘mascarpa’, an unrelated milk product made from the whey of stracchino (a young, barely aged cheese), or from ‘mascarpia’, a word in the local Lombardian dialect for ricotta. However, unlike ricotta, which is made from whey, mascarpone is made from cream.
Pasta with mascarpone.
There are many Italian recipes for pasta with mascarpone. The recipe below is one of the simplest. However, you can find very similar recipes which include other ingredients such as vegetables like zucchini, mushrooms, peas and radicchio (Italian chicory). Many people also use mascarpone with sausage meat, prosciutto crudo, pancetta or speck in pasta recipes.
Nuts are also a popular addition, particularly walnuts. In addition, some recipes call for mixing saffron into the cream cheese. This is quite popular in the parts of Italy where saffron is grown like in this malloreddus with ricotta recipe from Sardinia.
Origins of this recipe.
I found this recipe on an Italian website about food in Lombardy. Lombardia food is an online portal that promotes locally produced food, as well as eateries which specialize in typical Lombardian cuisine. There are other recipes to check out, not just pasta.
Maltagliati pasta.
This mascarpone pasta recipe calls for maltagliati pasta. For those who don’t know this pasta, maltagliati, which means badly cut, started as a way to use up leftover dough after making other types of pasta.
These leftover dough cuts were mostly used in soups and broths. In English speaking countries, homemade maltagliati are similar to what they call ‘pasta rags’.
Traditional maltagliati come in different shapes. They can be square, triangular, or rhomboid and aren’t necessarily uniform in size or shape.
Nowadays, the name maltagilati is used as an umbrella term for differently shaped short flat noodles, although they may be called by other names in different regions, like triangular patelettes from Abruzzo. You can also find dried maltagliati, which are, of course, all exactly the same size and shape!
How to make maltagliati.
Apart from using dried maltagliati there are two ways you can make the pasta. The first is from scratch by making fresh pasta sheets and cutting them to pieces that are more or less the same shape and size. I did this in my corn and wheat maltagliati with sausage recipe. For this maltagliati recipe, classic homemade egg pasta sheets are the best.
Secondly, you can use ready-made fresh or dried lasagne sheets. If using dried sheets, you will need to precook them first. Fresh sheets can be cut into maltagliati and then cooked. This is what I did for this recipe and the pasta was perfect!
Ingredients in this mascarpone pasta recipe
I kept to the original pasta with mascarpone from Lodi in Lombardy. Consequently, I only needed a handful of ingredients.
The pasta: Homemade or dried maltagliati or cut up fresh or dried lasagne sheets. Of course, you can use other types of short pasta. Penne would work well.
Eggs: Like a number of classic Italian pasta recipe such as carbonara, raw eggs are added to the cheese and then mixed with the hot pasta. However, in this recipe, you only use the egg yolks.
Mascarpone: Obviously the star of this dish from Lombardy, the region mascarpone comes from. If you don’t have mascarpone, you could use ricotta instead, but the flavour and texture will be different.
Grana Padano: Grana is produced in Piemonte, Veneto, Trento, some areas of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, including Lodi, where this recipe comes from. So, grana is the grated cheese of choice. You can also use parmigiano Reggiano. NB Neither Grana or Parmigiano are vegetarian, so vegetarians will need to use a vegetarian parmesan.
Other ingredients: Grated nutmeg is used to flavour the mascarpone sauce and salt for the pasta water and salt and pepper to season the dish.
Step by step instructions.
If using fresh pasta sheets, lay them on a flour dusted work surface and then cut them into rhomboids, large squares or triangles. Try to make your pasta pieces more or less the same size for even cooking. Use a sharp knife and place the ready maltagliati on a dry surface until ready to cook. Grate the Grana Padano cheese.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt and bring to a boil again. Cook pasta in the boiling water for a few minutes. Dried pasta will take much longer than fresh. Fresh pasta will only take 2-3 minutes. But test taste before draining.
Meanwhile, prepare the mascarpone sauce. Separate the egg yolks and beat them in a bowl, then add mascarpone cheese. Mix well and add the grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste and ⅓ of the grated grana and mix again.
Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce and mix everything together carefully with a further sprinkling of Grana Padano cheese. Serve immediately with some extra grated grana in a small bowl.
What to do with leftovers.
Leftovers can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for 1-2 days. I have found the best way to use leftovers of this maltagliati with mascarpone is to fry them in a little butter or olive oil until the pasta starts to brown/crisp.
Alternatively, if you use a short pasta such as penne, you could also bake the leftovers with some grated cheese on top.
Mascarpone is a vegetarian cream cheese, so this recipe is vegetarian if you use a vegetarian parmesan instead of grana, which is made with animal rennet.
Let me know what you think.
This maltagliati with mascarpone is so easy to make and so much more than the sum of its parts. I’m sure that once you try this recipe it will become a go-to for your family when you want something quick and delicious.
If you do try this mascarpone pasta recipe, I’d love to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.
Your feedback means a lot to me!
Buon Appetito!
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Maltagliati Pasta with Mascarpone
This fabulous creamy mascarpone pasta recipe comes from Lombardy in Northern Italy, Traditionally made with maltagliati pasta, this is one of the easiest pasta recipes to make. The sauce has just 4 main ingredients and doesn’t need cooking. Of course, you can use other pasta types instead.
Ingredients
- 10.5 ounces maltagliati pasta fresh or dried
- 5.3 ounces mascarpone
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2 ounces Grana Padano grated
- salt for pasta and to taste
- freshly ground black pepper. to taste
Instructions
Prepare the maltagliati pasta
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If using fresh homemade or store bought pasta sheets, lay them on a flour dusted work surface and then cut them into rhomboids, large squares or triangles. Try to make your pasta pieces more or less the same size for even cooking. Use a sharp knife and place the ready maltagliati on a dry surface until ready to cook.
Make the mascarpone sauce
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Separate the egg yolks, put them into a bowl with mascarpone cheese, mix carefully with a whisk, immersion blender or even a fork. Then add the nutmeg and ⅓ of the grana and mix one more time. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the pasta, finish and serve.
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Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt and bring to a boil again. Cook the pasta in the boiling water for a few minutes. Dried pasta will take much longer than fresh. Fresh pasta will only take 2-3 minutes. But test taste before draining.
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Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce and mix everything together carefully with a further sprinkling of Grana Padano cheese.
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Serve immediately with the remaining grated cheese in a small bowl to be added as required.
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Notes
If you don’t have fresh or dried pasta sheets you can use dried maltagliati or shore pasta tubes like penne. Cooking times will be longer with dried pasta.
For ways to store and use leftovers see main content above.
Nutrition
Calories: 532kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 19gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 144mgSodium: 257mgPotassium: 196mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 769IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 250mgIron: 1mg
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