When we need a pasta dish for the holidays, we turn to this Pappardelle with Champagne Cream Sauce. Pappardelle pasta nestled in a homemade tomato cream sauce that’s reduced with crisp and bubbly champagne.
Why You’ll Love This Pappardelle Pasta Recipe
Of course you can enjoy this Pappardelle Pasta with Champagne Cream Sauce any time of the year. Break it out for date night, Valentine’s Day or just a nice dinner at home with the family. Meatless Monday, anyone? This pappardelle is a delicious vegetarian pasta recipe, too!
But when you need a first course for a Christmas dinner or Valentine’s Day that will impress your guests, this pappardelle pasta is the one to make.
Tender pappardelle pasta swimming in the most rich, creamy, delicious champagne cream sauce that is begging to be served with a crisp glass of champagne on the side. This pasta recipe just screams the holidays you guys, but please do enjoy it all year long.
How To Make This Pappardelle Pasta Recipe
Step by step instructions here with photos. Please scroll to the recipe card at the end of the post for complete instructions.
- STEP 1 – Starting with the champagne cream sauce, cook down onions and garlic in a pot then add tomato paste and blend together. Stir 1 tablespoon of flour into the onions and garlic to cook for 1 minute. You’ll see all those brown bits on the bottom of your pot, but no worries, that’s where all the flavor is.
- STEP 2 – Pour in your favorite champagne to deglaze the pot and all those brown bits will come up into the sauce. The pan should be pretty clean on the bottom like you see in the photos above. Let the champagne reduce for 1 minute.
- STEP 3 – Add a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes to the pot, stir and let simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered. Pour in heavy cream to round out the sauce and make it creamy and delicious.
- STEP 4 – Once the sauce is done, drop the pappardelle into boiling water and cook according to the package directions. You don’t want to cook pappardelle pasta too much ahead of time because it’s super tender and the strands will stick together.
- STEP 5 – Drain the pasta and toss it in the pot with the sauce until all the pappardelle is coated. Serve immediately.
Tips Success!
Even thought this is a simple pasta recipe, we do have a few tips for making it taste just like it came from a restaurant.
- Don’t cook the pasta ahead of time: As we mentioned above, cook the pappardelle pasta right when the sauce is done. The strands are super tender and if the pasta sits too long the strands will stick together.
- Use the best quality ingredients: Of course you don’t have to use expensive champagne, but a champagne that you like to drink. Prosecco will also work!
- Serve immediately: This is a pasta dish that does need to be served as soon as it’s ready for the best flavor and texture. You can make the sauce ahead of time and keep it warm on the stove top until you’re ready to drop the pasta and serve!
What Cocktails Go Well With Pappardelle Pasta?
Of course, straight out of the bottle champagne works perfectly! But we do have lots of cocktails to serve along with this gorgeous pasta recipe, whether you’re serving it for the holidays or a date night at home.
- Aperol Spritz Cocktail
- Christmas Mimosa
- Pomegranate Prosecco Cocktail
- Cranberry Whiskey Sparkler
- Champagne Moscow Mule
Looking For More Vegetarian Pasta Recipes?
- Creamy Mushroom Rigatoni
- Baked Macaroni & Cheese
- Linguine with Clam Sauce
- Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce
- Creamy Penne Vodka
Pappardelle in Champagne Cream Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeThis Pappardelle with Champagne Cream Sauce is perfect for the holidays! Serve this pappardelle as a first course or a side dish to your holiday meal!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup champagne or prosecco
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 17.6 ounce pappardelle pasta, dried or fresh
Instructions
- Start a pot of water to boil for the pappardelle.
- Add the olive oil to a large, deep skillet or a wide dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
- Stir in the tomato paste and then the flour, cooking for 1-2 minutes, then deglaze the pan with the champagne. Whisk to prevent any lumps from forming and let the champagne reduce for 1 minute. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and stir until smooth. Season the sauce with salt, oregano and red pepper flakes. Bring the sauce to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes, uncovered, stirring often.
- Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese into the sauce and then let simmer over low heat while you cook the pappardelle pasta.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions and then drain. Add the pasta right into the sauce, stirring gently to fold the pasta into the sauce. You might have a little more sauce than needed, but when serving, use tongs to pull the pappardelle out of the sauce and onto plates. Any remaining sauce in the skillet can be served on the side of saved.
- Serve with fresh torn or sliced basil on top and grated parmesan cheese.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American / Italian
It’s so funny. I can’t tell you how many times this happens, but I recently made a pasta with pappardelle – which was hard to find, even in the major metropolis that I call home – and loved it, and now I stumble onto another recipe that uses it! Well, I say it’s “funny,” but probably Alexa overheard me talking about it, and tattled to the iternet about it. Anyway, I love pappardelle, and am glad to see your recipe. I’ve never made a sauce with champagne, but I will look forward to finishing off the bottle that I open for this recipe, as I’m cooking.