Farfalle With Pancetta and Peas in a Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

Dave in Alpharetta, GA's Note:

I was searching for a copycat recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's similar dish and found this. It looks promising so I'm posting it here to get some opinions and to save it for myself.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• ½ lb bow tie pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 -3 slices pancetta , chopped in small pieces
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup button mushroom
• ½ cup chopped roasted red pepper
• ½ cup seeded and chopped tomato
• 1 cup milk
• ½ head roasted garlic , paste
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 fresh sage leaves , chopped fine
• salt and black pepper (according to taste)
• ½ cup frozen green pea , thawed

Directions:

1. Boil pasta according to instructions on box drain and set aside. save 1/2 cup pasta water and discard rest.
2. Add oil to heated pan. Add Pancetta to the oil and let it render and get crispy a little for a couple of minutes on medium heat. Take pancetta out (leave oil in the pan) of pan and set aside.
3. Add onions to the skillet and caramelize them over low to medium heat.
4. Add mushrooms to caramelized onions and increase the flame to medium high. Sauté the mix for about 30 seconds.
5. Add red peppers and tomatoes to the mix and flip the mixture for about 20-30 seconds seconds until mixed well.
6. Add milk to the mix and bring it to simmer. Lower the heat and add roasted garlic paste to the mix and incorporate well.
7. Add cream cheese and parmesan to the mix and mix well -- let it simmer until cream cheese, garlic, and parmesan is mixed well into milk forming smooth sauce.
8. Add sage, salt and pepper (to taste) to the sauce and mix well. Add peas and pasta to mix and cook in the pan for a minute or so until pasta is well coated.
9. Add pancetta to the pasta and serve. (Use pasta water to thin the sauce if it gets too thick).

Reviews

[munecagirl22]

ok just made this and it was bland so i thought i woule add salt which made it too salty but still really good not exactly likw CFS BUT almost maybe the dry wine would help ive never used wine to cook w so i will see next time also looks exactly like CFS

[Chef #1518878]

I thought it was good but I still don't think that it tasted like the cheesecake factory. I too added more mushrooms and used bacon but the sauce just wasn't right. I saw a garlic sauce recipe where they added three roasted garlic cloves to the sauce pan and then the milk and cream and reduced it down a fourth and then added the parm. I hope that will make the sauce be more flavorful. I also will try pitbullmommy's way because she should know since she worked there.

[pitbullmommy]

I use to wait at the cheesecake factory and this is my favorite pasta dish there. I was amazed at this sauce. I roasted garlic in the oven and caramelized the onions until they were nice and brown, I used bacon, added chicken & asparagus in the dish. I didn't have any peppers or peas. I like a lot of sauce so I used milk and heavy cream. I also added adobo to season everything.