Aren’t figs so glamorous? They’re pretty and delicate, and a little exotic. And Michael Scott orders them for his 15th anniversary party, so, yeah. CLASSY. But, classy and glamorous as they may be, fresh figs don’t need to be consumed in a complicated fashion. Take this creamy parmesan pasta for instance– simple! Less than 10 ingredients! And it comes together in under an hour. Yes indeedy, fresh fig recipes are Weeknight Warrior material.
I didn’t eat a fresh fig until adulthood, so they’re still pretty new to me! I anxiously await fig season, plotting the ways I will eat them. During that first fig experience, I enjoyed them in a salad with briny castelvetrano olives (the straight-up best olives in my book) and a drizzle of balsamic. The salty and sweet combo was heavenly, and I’ve been looking for variations on that combo ever since. Hence, (do people still say ‘hence’?) the salty pancetta and parmesan, and sweet cream and figs.
Recipe Notes:
Pasta Variations
I prefer a short pasta for this dish because it keeps the small bits of pancetta and crispy shallots from becoming lost. I used gigli (I get mine at Trader Joe’s!) specifically because it holds onto the sauce well, and the pancetta and shallot bits get caught in its ruffles.
Starch Density
When planning to use pasta water in a sauce, remember that less water = more starch. More starch means that the pasta water will thicken your sauce more effectively! So, that is why this recipe calls for 4-ish quarts of water to 8oz of dry pasta.
Sauce Science
Me and cheese sauces? Admittedly, we’ve had unpleasantness between us in the past. I’ve had so many unfortunate cheese clumping incidences while trying to make cheese sauces, that I play it safe and start with a bit of flour. Flour helps the cheese emulsify (I don’t know why, but it does! Don’t worry, I’ll add that to my super long ‘To Research’ list.) One thing to keep in mind when using flour for a sauce is that the flour needs to cook for a few minutes to avoid tasting ‘flour-y.’
Another sauce element that I feel should be addressed is the temperature of the milk and cream. After the milk and cream are added to the flour and butter, they need to come to a simmer before any cheese is added. If the milk and cream are too cold, the cheese will not melt and will clump. Another note on this– cream and milk don’t really simmer the way water does with tiny bubbles– instead, it steams. So look for a nice amount of steam to know if the dairy is hot enough to start adding cheese.
Lastly, don’t forget your patience– start with just a few bits of cheese at first, letting each bit melt before adding more. Once the sauce has an established emulsion of the milk and cheese, you can start to add more and more cheese with each addition!
Creamy Parmesan Pasta with Fresh Figs Recipe
Creamy Fig Pasta
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 8 oz short dry pasta I used gigli
- 4 oz diced pancetta
- 4 medium-large shallots sliced thin and rings separated
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1.5 tsp flour
- 3/4 cup pasta water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- fresh basil leaves sliced thinly for serving
- 1 pint fresh figs each fig cut into 4 or 8 wedges, depending on size
- freshly ground black pepper for serving
Instructions
- Bring 4 quarts of generously salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta in the boiling water until al dente, about 5-6 minutes. Reserve ¾ cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta (do not rinse) and set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook the pancetta in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the fat is rendered, about 12 minutes. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels, leaving the drippings behind in the pan.
- Add 1 tbsp butter to the pan along with the shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook 3 minutes longer while stirring more frequently, until shallots are crisped in places. Be careful not to burn. Remove the shallots from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan, and move to the paper towels with the pancetta.
- Add 1 tbsp more to the pan and melt. Sprinkle the flour over top of the butter and stir to combine. Cook while stirring, 1 minute. Stir in the pasta water and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the pan to incorporate. Add the cream and bring up to a steam* (see recipe notes). When steaming, stir the sauce with a whisk, and add one small pinch of the shredded parmesan. Whisk until the cheese has emulsified completely, then add a little more parmesan. Continue add a little parmesan at a time, always allowing to melt completely before adding more, until all of the cheese has been incorporated. Simmer 4-5 minutes more, whisking constantly, until smooth and slightly thickened. Toss the pasta with the sauce off the heat.
- Serve the pasta topped with the pancetta, crispy shallots, basil, figs, and freshly ground black pepper.
Looking for more pasta goodness? Try this Butternut + Blue Cheese Ravioli!
