Creamy One Pot Caramelized Shallot Pasta

JUST KEEP COOKING, JUST KEEP COOKING….

This four-ingredient creamy caramelized shallot pasta brings together the sweet and savory flavors of cooked shallots with a rich, creamy, and herbaceous sauce. Ready in just 20 minutes, this dish is perfect for a single serving or more, making it a great choice for any day of the week.

HOW TO CARAMELIZE SHALLOTS

The most important step, of this shallot pasta recipe is caramelizing the shallots. Unlike their cousin ‘the onion’, shallots don’t take that long to caramelize. In fact, as long as you keep an eye on them and mix them often you can have caramelized shallots in about 10-12 minutes.

While this step is incredibly easy, it is so important to not undercook or even worse overcook the shallots. Undercook them and you will be left with little to no flavor. Overcook them and well you might be left with a bitter aftertaste. What you are looking for are all the shallots to be a medium brown color, well past golden. Check out the step by step below, or the recipe card on careful instructions.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE CARAMELIZED SHALLOT PASTA

• Pasta– This quick and easy sauce pairs best with Pastina or other small pasta shapes—don’t ask me why, it just does! Orzo, Pastina, and Stelline are ideal options. The pasta shown in the photo is actually Target’s Good & Gather Stelline, which I’ve linked HERE!
• Shallots – 2 large shallots per serving of pasta, minced super small, which also helps these cook significantly faster.
• Boursin – The shallot & chive flavor is key—it perfectly complements the caramelized shallots in this dish. Substituting with the garlic & herb-flavored Boursin just won’t deliver the same onion flavor. If you absolutely must substitute because you can’t find this flavor, you can get the same tanginess and herb flavor with cream cheese and fresh chives. However, be aware that the taste won’t quite match the original.
• Butter

That is it, 4 ingredients.

HOW TO MAKE CARAMELIZED SHALLOT PASTA

Caramelize the Shallots – In a small pot over medium to low heat add the butter. Once melted and bubbly toss in the shallots, reduce the heat, and cook down. Just keep cooking until medium brown, this will take approximately 10-12 minutes depending on how low the heat is. Mix or toss every 30 or so seconds to ensure even cooking. While this is super easy below are trouble shooting points.

• They aren’t turning brown. Just keep cooking them, your heat might be too low. Try raising it a touch or just cook further.
• Some pieces are brown and some are white. You need to mix more often, lower the heat and stir every so often.
• They are bitter. Unfortunately you overcooked your shallots, especially if they are dark dark brown. there isn’t a fix for this, however next time pull them off the heat sooner or lower the heat.

Cook the Pasta – Cook the pasta as per packaging in salted water until it is al dente. Save some of the pasta water, drain, and place the pasta on the side until ready.

Make it Creamy + Finish – On low heat add in the Boursin and break up with the back of a spoon. Combine with the shallots. This will not resemble a sauce just yet so don’t stress! Add in 2 tbsp of pasta water to loosen up the shallot Boursin (if the sauce is still a bit thick add more pasta water until desired consistency). Season with kosher salt if needed, a.k.a salt to taste. Cook for 15-30 seconds and toss in your pasta.

While I don’t recommend making the entire dish in advance, you can prepare the caramelized shallots up to one day ahead. When it’s time to make the pasta, simply reheat the shallots in the pan for a minute before adding the Boursin. Although this is a single-serving pasta, it’s incredibly easy to scale up—just double or triple the recipe below to suit your needs.

BONUS* Make it Crispy– To elevate this dish, I topped it with crispy fried shallots. They’re simple to make but require a little patience. In a small pot, add about 1/2 inch of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, drop in the sliced shallots and cook for 12–17 minutes until they turn a medium brown color.

For best results don’t touch them for the first few minutes of cooking, let them sit undisturbed. Then after a few minutes toss every minute os so. Be careful—they can go from perfectly browned to burnt in no time! Once done, remove them from the oil and drain on a paper towel for 2–3 minutes until they crisp up.

STORING/REHEATING

This is one of those dishes that is vest served immediately, however leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. when ready to reheat pop the pasta back into a pan with a splash of water or broth to loosen it up. Heat on low until warmed throughout.

Need more creamy dishes? I got you!

Buffalo Chicken Pasta – Another easy Boursin pasta sauce.
Lemon Caper Pasta
Creamy Roasted Garlic Gnocchi