Fresh Herb Pappardelle Pasta

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

There is something so beautiful about a simple pasta dish with garlic, lemon and herbs. Using pappardelle pasta is what makes it special. If you are looking for a way to change up your usual pasta routine, these noodles are a great way to do it.

You can put the fresh herbs you bought for one recipe to use in another. I know sometimes people can hesitate to buy bunches of herbs for a recipe if they feel like they’re going to end up throwing most of them away. With this pasta you can stir in lots of different herbs including parsley, basil and chives, so you can avoid that waste.

This recipe is quick and easy. The most prep you have to do is slice the garlic and chop the herbs. And if you want to save a few minutes, you can start cooking the pasta on one burner and then toward the end of its cook time, you can warm the olive oil and sauté the garlic.

What is Pappardelle?

These egg noodles are long, flat, and most importantly, wide. You can think of them like pasta ribbons. They are often paired with something big and meaty like bolognese sauce or ragu. Pappardelle is pronounced ‘pap-par-deh-lay.’ 

Unlike other long pastas such as spaghetti or fettuccine that are packaged standing straight in a box, dried papparedelle is in nests. They unravel pretty quickly once they start to cook in the simmering water. 

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Pappardelle are wide egg noodles. You can substitute with tagliatelle, which are a little more narrow.
• Garlic: This pasta is garlicky. It calls for 4 cloves sliced thinly rather than being minced like other recipes. I like those flat pieces of garlic with the wide noodles.
• Red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper season the pasta.
• Parmesan is always good in simple pastas, but if you want something stronger, you can use pecorino cheese or use a mix of both.
• Lemon: You will need the juice and zest from one lemon.
• Fresh herbs: I like using a combination of parsley, basil and chives. They all have their own distinct personalities, and they all work well together. Chives add onion flavor. You can consider adding oregano too.

Optional Additions

• Mushrooms: Try stirring in roasted or sautéed mushrooms.
• Tomatoes: Depending on the season, you can throw in slow-roasted tomatoes, especially during the summer.
• Butter: If you want to add some richness, you can stir in a half to a full tablespoon of butter. It will quickly melt right in. This makes me think back to eating buttered egg noodles in college.

How To Make This Pappardelle Pasta Recipe

1. Cook the pasta. Follow the recommended cook time on the package to make sure you cook the pappardelle until it is just al dente. It should have some bite. Save 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and then drain the rest.

2. Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium low heat.

3. Sauté the garlic. Give it 2-3 minutes to turn golden brown.

4. Stir in the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

5. Add the pasta. It should be well mixed into the oil, garlic and seasonings.

6 Add the fresh lemon juice and zest and the pasta cooking water, letting it bubble and evaporate. This will allow the strach to coat the pasta.

7. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

8. Stir in the parsley, chives and basil leaves. Divide the pasta into bowls and finish it with more Parmesan before serving.

More Quick & Easy Pasta Recipes

Lemon Garlic Mushroom Spaghetti
Antipasto Spaghetti
Chickpea Spinach Pasta
Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

This pasta is part of my guide to easy pasta recipes for every season featuring vegetarian ideas for spring, summer, fall and winter.