Easy goat cheese pasta sauce, a creamy warm version of the French classic, Warm Goat Cheese Salad, with toasted walnuts, fresh herbs and half fat cream. Bring some French summer sunshine to your plate at any time of year.
Absolutely scrumptious. Thank you for the recipe! - Tommy
Can You Melt Goat Cheese into a Sauce?
This Goat Cheese Pasta Sauce has just evolved over the last few years. It's a Salade de Chèvre Chaud without the salad. Instead we just melt the goat cheese in a hot pan with the usual classic French salad ingredients - and it tastes fantastic.
We love the salad version, but we often find salads difficult to digest in the evening. Outside the summer months, we also don't feel like salad. Enough said.
For this hot cheese sauce version, place small spinach leaves on the bottom of each plate for more greens. The heat of the pasta slightly wilts them. More ideas below.
Best French Goat Cheese to Use for Cooking
Like the salad version, don't skimp on good quality goat cheese. For a smooth, creamy goat cheese sauce, the best choice is Crottin de Chavignol - from the charming Loire village that also produces the famous Sancerre wines nearby. Made with raw goat's milk (lait cru), these small individual cheeses (65-100g) are sold everywhere in France, from supermarkets to cheese shops and markets.
In some Paris brasseries, beware of cheap imposters. I was once served a thick slice of Poilâne bread smothered in fig jam, then topped with a bitter, budget goat cheese (sold packaged in logs) that didn't melt properly. (For the record, fig jam belongs beside a cheese board, not under it.)
So, if you spot fig jam on the menu, avoid it! The classic version should be simple: garlic, olive oil, a goat's cheese that melts easily when heated, plus a sprinkle of fresh herbs and walnuts. Now that's how to make a real goat cheese sauce sing.
For more on cheese and wine around Sancerre,
see my guide to Aubigny-sur-Nère.
What Does Goat Cheese Go Well With?
We love goat cheese (chèvre) with this combination as all the ingredients combine well together. The others below are great optional ingredients, also great added:
- Garlic and olive oil
- Fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives (or dried herbes de Provence);
- Toasted walnuts - or pecans, pine nuts or almonds
- Chopped bacon or lardons
- Fried onions or dribbled over potatoes
- Sun-dried tomatoes or a side of fresh tomatoes
- Dried or fresh figs; a side dish of roasted figs with honey
- Green leaves (spinach, lamb's lettuce, watercress, lettuce, rocket/arugula)
- A little spice such as cayenne pepper.
Goat Cheese Pasta - My Tips
As with the salad version, I gently fry chopped garlic in olive oil, add chopped fresh rosemary or thyme from the garden, melt in the goat cheese, toast some walnuts either in another frying pan (dry fry) or quickly under the grill to toss on top.
Add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes or fried bacon bits (lardons) for the full monty!
Either cook dried egg pasta (about 10 minutes - follow packet instructions) or fresh pasta noodles for a couple of minutes and toss it in the melted cheese with a bit of cream, dinner is ready as soon as we've opened the wine! The dish has so much flavour, there's no need to add any parmesan cheese.
Have you also tried this creamy lemon spaghetti? Great with fresh seasonal vegetables, chicken - or leftover turkey.
More Goat Cheese Recipes
More cheesy recipes using chèvre goat's cheese. Also as the freshest of goat cheese to substitute Corsican Brocciu (or ricotta):
- French Warmed Goat's Cheese Salad
- Corsican Cheese Lasagne - based on Cannelloni au brocciu
- French Onion Tarte Tatin (with video)
- Fiadone - Corsican Cheesecake
Goat Cheese Pasta Sauce with Walnuts
Ingredients
- 2 (100g/3½oz small cheeses) Crottins de Chavignol or good quality matured goat cheese (about ½ cup)
- 2 tablespoon walnuts
- 3 cloves garlic peeled, core removed & chopped finely
- 4 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (or thyme) finely chopped (or herbes de Provence)
- 115 g (4oz/½ cup) half fat cream (15% fat)
- 100 g (3.5oz) lardons/bacon bits OPTIONAL
- 250 g (9oz) fresh pasta (recipe link below)
- handful fresh spinach leaves optional
Instructions
- Toast the walnuts under the grill for a couple of minutes (keep an eye on them, as you don't want them to burn) or dry-fry in a non-stick frying pan. Set aside.
- Gently fry the chopped garlic in the olive oil for a minute but don't brown (it will otherwise turn bitter). Add the fresh herbs then chopped goat cheese and leave it to melt for about 5 minutes then add the cream, salt and ground black pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to packet instructions. I prefer using fresh pasta which only takes a couple of minutes but if you use dried egg pasta, prepare the pasta more in advance or take the sauce off the heat so as not to overcook.
- Drain the pasta and toss into the pan with the sauce, sprinkling over the toasted walnuts.
Notes
This recipe was first published 22 September 2018 but has now been completely updated.
Kevin
Amazing recipe especially when you have some goat cheese leftovers and you don’t want to lose them - thank you Jill.
Jill Colonna
Thanks Kevin. Good idea on the cheesy leftovers - it's a very handy recipe. Forgot to add we're enjoying with fresh figs just now.
Thomasina
Delicious but forgot to toast the walnuts. Still tasted amazing though.
Jill Colonna
So happy you liked this, Thomasina! Next time enjoy it with the toasted walnuts - it's honestly toe-curlingly good!
Toby
Even for a terrible cook like me this reads like a highly feasible recipe Jill
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Jill Colonna
It's a real pleasure Toby.Thanks but honestly, there's no such thing as a 'terrible cook'! Enjoy putting this together and give the other recipes a go. If I can do it, so can you! All of my recipes are so easy.
Tommy
Absolutely scrumptious
Thank you for the recipe!
Jill Colonna
Glad you like it, Tommy - thanks for telling us!
So good!
Really good! Added the sundried tomato, walnuts, and spinach. Also added some red pepper flakes.
Was soo good! Thanks for the recipe
Jill Colonna
Love your addition of red pepper flakes too! Sounds good. Thanks for your feedback and glad you like the recipe! Bon dimanche x
sherry
yum it looks delicious.
Jill Colonna
It is - hope you try it!
Mimi
This is just a magnificent pasta! Love all of the ingredients.
Jill Colonna
So happy you like them, Mimi. Bon appétit !
Betty
Looks very yummy!
Jill Colonna
It's fabulous - try it, Betty...