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    Home • Recipes • Vegetarian Recipes

    Goat Cheese Pasta (Creamy Sauce with Walnuts)

    Published: Nov 23, 2022 by Jill Colonna8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    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.

    fresh pasta tossed in melted goat cheese and cream topped with fresh parsley and walnuts

    Can You Melt Goat Cheese?

    This Goat Cheese & Walnut Pasta Sauce has just evolved over the last few years. It's a Salade de Chèvre Chaud without the salad. Instead we just liquify the goat cheese: melt it down in a hot pan with the usual classic French salad ingredients.

    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 salad version, place some small spinach leaves on the bottom of each plate for more greens. The heat of the pasta slightly wilts them. More ideas below.

    platter of round goat cheeses at the French market
    Take your pick - strong mature to creamy fresh

    Best French Goat Cheese to Use for Cooking

    Like the salad version, don't skimp on using good quality goat cheese. The best kind of goat cheese to use is Crottin de Chavignol (from the charming little Loire village that also boasts some remarkable Sancerre wines from the famous town up the road) made with raw goat's milk (lait cru). They are small individual cheeses and can be 65g-100g, sold around France, from supermarkets to cheese shops and at the market.

    In some of the touristy brasseries in Paris, watch out for the cheap'n'nasty stuff; the other day I was served a sickly sweet version with a thick layer of fig jam spread on Poilâne bread, then topped with the cheapest supermarket goat cheese that was bitter and didn't like being melted (incidentally, fig jam is best served separately with a cheese board - just saying.

    So if you see fig jam included - avoid it! Sitting on top of a ridiculous amount of green salad without much dressing, this seriously gives our visitors to France the wrong idea of the classic dish.

    Needless to say, it gets my goat. Stick to garlic, olive oil, good cheese, fresh herbs and walnuts.

    bowl of fresh walnuts in kernels, fresh thyme herbs and French round cheeses

    What Does Goat Cheese Go Well With?

    We love goat cheese (chèvre) with this combination as all the ingredients combine well together.  The mix is a taste of France on a plate with these main ingredients, first.

    The others below are great optional ingredients that are also great added:

    • Garlic;
    • 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;
    • 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.
    slices of toasted bread with cheese, nuts, lettuce and bacon
    Inspired by the classic French warm goat cheese salad

    fresh noodles tossed in melted goat cheese and cream with freshly chopped parsley and walnuts

    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 pasta (about 10 minutes - follow packet instructions) or fresh pasta noodles for a couple of minutes and toss it in the sauce with a bit of cream, dinner is ready as soon as we've opened the wine!

    Have you also tried this creamy lemon spaghetti?
    Great with fresh seasonal vegetables, prawns, chicken - or leftover turkey.

    pan of fresh pasta noodles with goat cheese sauce, parsley and walnuts

    Goat Cheese Pasta - Creamy Sauce with Walnuts

    Jill Colonna
    My saucy take on the French classic, Salade de Chèvre Chaud, with toasted walnuts, rosemary and fresh parsley to create a creamy goat cheese pasta sauce. Serve with fresh tagliatelle, spaghetti or fusilli - and add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes or fried bacon bits to go the full monty.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 15 minutes mins
    Total Time 30 minutes mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine French
    Servings 2 people

    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 then add the cream, plus salt and ground pepper to taste.
    • Meanwhile, prepare the pasta according to packet instructions. I prefer using fresh pasta which only takes a couple of minutes but if you use dried 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

    Good matching wines: Sauvignon Blanc or fruitier Chenin Blanc, ideally from the Loire (the goat cheese is from the same region). The result is a creamy, almost honey-like taste that marries to well together.
    For my fresh pasta recipe, see Alsatian egg noodles.
    Measures: Please note that all my recipes are best made using digital kitchen scales in precise metric grams. Both ounces (and cups) are given as an approximate guide. 
    Keyword creamy goat cheese pasta, goat cheese pasta sauce, goats cheese pasta recipes, melted goat cheese

    This recipe was first published 22 September 2018 but has now been completely updated.

    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

    More Vegetarian Recipes

    • layers of lasagna with cheese, spinach, tomato and mint
      Corsican Cheese Lasagna (Cannelloni au Brocciu)
    • rhubarb cake with almonds
      Rhubarb Cake (Gâteau à la rhubarbe)
    • green asparagus spears baked in a roasting tin topped with toasted hazelnuts
      Oven-Roasted Asparagus (Asperges rôties)
    • cup of lemon ice cream with strawberries
      Creamy Lemon Ice Cream (Glace au citron)
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    Meet Jill Colonna

    Jill is both Scottish and French and author of the book and blog, Mad About Macarons since 2010. Here she shares over 30 years of experience of living the healthy food life with her French family in Paris - via easy recipes and local food guides in France.

    More about Jill

    Reader Interactions

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      Made this? Rate this recipe...




    1. So good!

      March 28, 2021 at 1:48 am

      5 stars
      Really good! Added the sundried tomato, walnuts, and spinach. Also added some red pepper flakes.

      Was soo good! Thanks for the recipe

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        March 28, 2021 at 1:10 pm

        Love your addition of red pepper flakes too! Sounds good. Thanks for your feedback and glad you like the recipe! Bon dimanche x

        Reply
    2. sherry

      September 24, 2018 at 7:37 am

      yum it looks delicious.

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        September 24, 2018 at 6:11 pm

        It is - hope you try it!

        Reply
    3. Mimi

      September 23, 2018 at 4:33 pm

      5 stars
      This is just a magnificent pasta! Love all of the ingredients.

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        September 23, 2018 at 4:43 pm

        So happy you like them, Mimi. Bon appétit !

        Reply
    4. Betty

      September 23, 2018 at 1:56 pm

      Looks very yummy!

      Reply
      • Jill Colonna

        September 23, 2018 at 4:23 pm

        It's fabulous - try it, Betty...

        Reply

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