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Peruvian-Style Pasta with Creamy Pepper and Cheese Sauce

Peruvian-Style Pasta with Creamy Pepper and Cheese Sauce

By Elizabeth MindreauDecember 15, 2021

  • Makes
    4 to 6 servings
  • Cook Time
    40 minutes
  • Rating

Huancaína is a creamy, golden-toned sauce made by pureeing sautéed onion, queso fresco (a fresh, crumbly cheese with a mild, milky flavor), milk or cream, and ají amarillo (a variety of chili commonly used in Peruvian cooking). The sauce has myriad uses. Pairing it with boiled potatoes and hard-cooked eggs yields a popular Peruvian appetizer, papa a la huancaína. It’s also much loved over pasta, a dish known as huancaína con fideos. For our simplified version, instead of ají amarillo—which can be tricky to source—we use a combination of habanero chili for heat and yellow or orange bell peppers for sweetness and substance. The creamy, salty, spicy-sweet sauce on al dente noodles, garnished with briny black olives (botija olives are classic, but we use widely available Kalamatas instead) is addictive. For fans of spicy heat, leave some or all the seeds in the habanero.

Tip

Don’t boil the pasta until al dente. Drain the noodles when they’re a few minutes shy of al dente, as they will cook for a brief time directly in the sauce. Be sure to reserve some of the cooking water before draining the pasta.

Ingredients
  • 1

    pound fettuccine or linguine

  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper

  • ¼

    cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • ¼

    medium red onion, chopped

  • 2

    medium orange or yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped

  • 1

    habanero chili, stemmed, seeded and chopped

  • 3

    ounces queso fresco, crumbled (¾ cup)

  • 1

    cup half-and-half

  • 2

    tablespoons lime juice

  • ½

    cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped

Step 1

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Stir in the pasta and 1 tablespoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente.

Reserve 1½ cups of the cooking water, then drain; reserve the pot.

Step 2

In the same pot over medium, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion, bell peppers, habanero and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and beginning to brown at the edges, about 15 minutes.

Step 3

Scrape the onion-pepper mixture, including the oil, into a blender and let cool for about 5 minutes; reserve the pot. To the blender, add the cheese, half-and-half, lime juice, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Puree until smooth, scraping the blender jar as needed, about 1 minute.

Step 4

Pour the puree into the pot. Add the pasta and ½ cup reserved pasta water, then cook over medium, stirring, until the pasta is al dente, 5 to 7 minutes, adding reserved water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed so the sauce coats the noodles.

Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with the olives.