A simple creamy pasta sauce packed with flavour. A combination of sweet roast garlic, zingy lemon, pepper and parmesan makes this a truly delicious and luscious sauce. A simple and quick pasta sauce to bring together once you have roasted the garlic.

Hi! I am writing up the recipe for this new easy creamy roast garlic and lemon pasta sauce. It pretty much contains all my favourite flavours in one sauce! Roast garlic is added to foamy butter with lots of pepper, lemon and lemon zest then rounded off with cream and parmesan. I have used a homemade orecchiette but it will work with absolutely any pasta shape!
Tips for the best roast garlic and lemon pasta sauce
- Brown the butter a touch - If I ever use butter as the base for a sauce I let it gently brown before adding anything else. It is a way to get a good flavour base going. Just don't let it burn or get to hot.
- Use fresh lemon! Please don't use bottled lemon juice, fresh is best every time and nothing else will do!
- Roasting the garlic - You want to roast the garlic so it is just starting to brown and caramelise. Keep checking it every 5 or 10 mins if it isn't done by the 45 min mark. Make sure you let them cool before squeezing the cloves out!
- If using dried pasta - undercook it slightly. I really do love letting the pasta bubble away in the sauce for a minute or two so undercook your pasta by a minute or so. If using an orecchiette or gnocchi sardi then you don't need to worry as it's pretty hard to overcook fresh shapes like that.
- Grating the parmesan - I usually say to grate your parmesan with a microplane (or the star side of a box grater). It creates much finer strands that melt into sauces much easier.
- Save some pasta water - I always transfer my pasta straight into the sauce from the pot with a spider strainer so the pasta water is left behind for me to use as I wish. You can cut out the step of using a colander and washing all that liquid gold down the sink. You never know how much you will need!

How to roast whole garlic bulbs
Roasting whole garlic bulbs is not only super easy, it's crazy delicious. It caramelises and turns the garlic into a sweet creamy ingredient you can add to anything! It is really simple, here is the process.
- Preheat your oven to 200c (390f)
- Peel the outer papery layers off the bulbs (I actually forgot to do that here!) It just makes squeezing the garlic out at the end much easier.
- Slice the top off, just enough to expose the tops of the cloves.
- Drizzle with olive oil and wrap up in aluminium foil.
- Roast in the oven on a tray for 40 - 50 mins. You want the top to look brown and caramelised.
- Once it's cooked, let it cool enough to touch.
- Squeeze all of that delicious garlicy goodness out.






Why pasta water is your best friend!
You'll hear me harp on about the magic that is pasta water in 99% of my recipes. It really is a key ingredient in every sauce I make. The starch left behind in the water acts as a thickening agent and helps sauces cling to the pasta. I couldn't make a sauce without it.
I never EVER drain my pasta in a colander, I always transfer it directly to the sauce using a spider strainer. That way the pasta pot full of water is left there for you to ladle in as you need. if you have seen my reels on instagram you'll notice my sauces are SAUCY.
Pasta soaks up liquid so quickly so I add enough pasta water to make it quite liquidy. By the time I serve into bowls and take to the table it hasn't dried up. You'll get to know what the right consistency is with some practice, you can't go wrong though I promise!

What pasta shape is best for this sauce?
It will work with absolutely any shape though, dried or fresh! I have used my homemade orecchiette because if you know me at all you'll know it is my favourite! If you want to make a slight easier shape give my hand rolled gnocchi sardi a try. Both shapes are made with my easy semolina pasta dough.
If you feel like making some fresh egg pasta make sure you use my easy homemade pasta dough, it is completely fool proof.

Recipe FAQs
If you want the full flavour experience then yes! Roasting garlic makes it so much sweeter and delicious, the extra effort is worth it I promise. If you are really short on time then just use 3 - 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped and add it to the butter with the pepper.
Creams are all called slightly different things in different countries. Here in New Zealand, for cooking I use single cream. In America that is light cream. 18% - 30% fat. Anything heavier will be too thick. You can obviously thin down the consistency with pasta water though.
I get these ones but it's really no drama if you leave them off. A little sprinkle of regular chilli flakes will be just as good, they are spicy though so be sparing if you don't like heat.
Need some other sauces to try?
If you loved this creamy roast garlic and lemon pasta sauce then check out my other recipes for more delicious options! Some suggestions? You really should make my creamy leek pasta, it's seriously epic. Another creamy option is my creamy tomato and sausage pasta. For something completely different my red pepper pesto pasta is one of my new faves.



Made this recipe and loved it?
I would love love LOVE if you could leave me a review down below and let me know what you thought! I love to hear any changes or adaptions you have made too. Also if you put a photo on instagram, please tag me so I can see, it makes my day!
PrintRecipe

Creamy roast garlic and lemon pasta sauce
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 - 3 people
Description
A simple creamy pasta sauce packed with flavour. A combination of sweet roast garlic, zingy lemon, pepper and parmesan make this a truly delicious and luscious sauce.
Ingredients
- Pasta of your choice, I do 150g fresh per person or 100g dried
- 2 whole heads garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 30g butter, cubed
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 cup cream (I used single but use heavy if you want!)
- 2 - 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Zest of a lemon
- 50g parmesan, finely grated with a microplane or equivalent
- Extra zest to serve
- Dried paprika flakes to serve
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 celsius (400f)
- Prepare your garlic bulbs. Take off the outer papery layers and cut the top off horizontally. You want to cut off just enough that you expose the tops of the cloves.
- Drizzle the top with olive oil then wrap up each one individually in foil and roast in the oven for about 45 mins or until the cloves are soft and starting to caramelise.
- When roasted to your liking let them cool and then squeeze all the garlic out. I like to use the back of a spoon on a chopping board to turn it into a smooth paste.
- Cook your pasta in a pot of well salted boiling water.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Let it foam up then add the pepper and stir.
- Add the garlic paste and whisk (you don't need to add all of it, I love garlic so add it to taste!)
- Add the cream and whisk (lower the heat so it's not boiling, it should be a gentle simmer throughout the process).
- Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk again.
- Add the parmesan in a few lots, whisking and letting it melt in between each addition.
- Let it gently simmer for a couple of mins until it thickens slightly.
- Add your cooked pasta straight into the sauce with a ¼ cup of pasta water and let it bubble away for a minute or so.
- My biggest tip is that you want it on the saucier side so add more pasta water if you need to loosen. Pasta soaks up sauce quick so by making it super saucy in the pan by the time you serve it into bowls it will be perfect!
- I like to top the pasta with extra lemon zest and some paprika flakes
Notes
- The amount of lemon and garlic is up to you! You might want to add half of both to start but if you like big flavour like me chuck it all in! You can add more lemon juice if you like!
- If you can't find the dried paprika flakes (I use this brand) then add a sprinkle of chilli flakes or a dusting of smoked paprika powder to the top, or neither is fine!
- This sauce is probably enough for three portions of pasta, I favour big portions oops. You can always add some extra pasta water to make it go a bit further.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
Shannon says
Loved this recipe so much!
★★★★★
Emilie Pullar says
Yay so glad! 🙂
Rachel says
I made this - so good! My friend and I both loved it. Had some charred broccoli on the side. Changed nothing! I think next time I might add more garlic though. Excellent!
★★★★★
Emilie Pullar says
Charred brocc is always a great call! So glad you enjoyed it!
Lori Michrina says
Just made this last night, and it’s so so yummy! And believe me, I used ALL the garlic! 🙂
★★★★★
Emilie Pullar says
I would secretly judge anyone who didn't use it all haha! The more garlic the better 🙂
Evie says
So delicious! I roasted the garlic in my air fryer which made it super quick too, if like me you only start cooking dinner when you're already hungry ?.
★★★★★
Emilie Pullar says
The air fryer hack is GENIUS! Definitely doing that next time x
Millie says
so so good
★★★★★
Emilie Pullar says
Glad you liked it! I need to make this again! 🙂
Janhavi says
Is it really 50 g fresh or 100 g dried?? I thought dried would be less than fresh since it’s dehydrated
Emilie Pullar says
Hi sorry for my slow reply. The recipe definitely says 150g fresh or 100g dry 🙂
Janhavi says
Oh my god I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I kept reading it as 50 g
Eleanor says
My husband's only critique of this recipe was that it wasn't served with a shovel so that he could eat more of it. I haven't let him see me eat it straight out of the pan with kitchen tongs (he's not ready for that creature just yet).
I've made several of Emilie's recipes (and adore them all) but this one just tastes like wonderful comfort. Garlicky, but also fresh - use a pasta shape that will catch and hold all this glorious sauce!
★★★★★
Emilie Pullar says
hahaha this made me laugh so much! I am all about eating pasta straight out of the pan with tongs! So glad you loved it 🙂
Kandace says
This was so delicious! Definitely a low effort, high impact dish! We will be making this again in our house. Thank you for the recipe!!
★★★★★