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Made this tonight and it is heaven! So simple, yet so satisfying and delicious!
Jessica
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo
Hello and meet your new best friend.
Garlic Parm Shellbows.
Specifically, the shellbows. WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE?!
They are a cross between shells and elbows and I am now ready to trade out all my existing pasta so I exclusively cook with shellbows. Goodbye.
(The shellbows are a DeLallo thing which is win-win because the quality of their pasta is top of the line.)
This recipe is all of us right now.
- Basic in the best of ways
- Open to being made fancy
- Willing to be a side dish
- But also happy to be there for you when you just need a bowl of creamy, garlicky, no-nonsense pasta on the couch
It’s a whole mood.
The premise here is the same as mac and cheese, but it’s just slightly more interesting.
- You cook some garlic in some butter.
- You add your pasta *HI SHELLBOWS* to the buttery garlic and boil it with your milk and broth.
- You stir in Parmesan cheese.
Do you pour yourself a glass of wine?
Do you level up with some parsley and lemon juice?
Do you make it into a skillet meal for the fam?
That is up to you.
But even (especially) in its most simple form, it can’t not speak to you. The times just call for a recipe as pure and honest as this.
Shellbows are too fun. They are too fun and too cute.
For the sake of all that is deliciously creamy and adorable, please order yourself some shellbows!
While you’re at it, grab some good olive oil and tomato sauce, and build yourself a pantry staples shelf that will make you swoon. When my DeLallo box came a few weeks ago, it was a very happy day.
Shellbows for prez!
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One-Pot Garlic Parmesan Shellbows
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
These Garlic Parmesan Shellbows are LIFE-CHANGING. Creamy, garlicky, cheesy pasta that’s made in just one pot. Make it a side, serve it in a skillet with chicken and veg, or eat it all on its own. SO good!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (sub 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces pasta (SHELLBOWS ARE SO FUN!)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half (optional)
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant and soft (avoid browning, though).
- Add the broth, milk, salt, and pasta. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to a low simmer. Let the pasta cook for 15-or-so minutes, until soft and the liquid has reduced. (The milk might form a skin on top of the pot or on the spoon – no worries, just skim it off.)
- When the sauce is thickened and the pasta is soft, stir in the Parmesan. And if you feel like you want to take it up a notch, add the cream.
- There you go! Yum! So many serving options, but for now you need to spend at least two minutes standing over the hot pan doing some taste testing.
Equipment
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → Notes
How To Serve: Plain, with salt and pepper, with lemon juice and herbs, with grilled chicken and vegetables, or with shredded chicken and peas for a springy skillet!
For Garlic Lovers: You can add 1-2 cloves garlic – I’ve seen other recipes that use as many as 4 cloves. I found 2 cloves for a half pound of pasta was plenty for me!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: shellbows, pasta, one pot pasta, pasta dish, skillet pasta, garlic parmesan pasta
Thank you to DeLallo for sponsoring this post!
I followed this recipe exactly except I substituted medium shells for shell bows. It was like pasta soup. The flavor was good but what a disappointment! If I make again I will add more pasta.
Amazing! So simple, delicious, and easy! I used cavatappi pasta.
The food you share is delicious and attractive. I love to enjoy these foods.
How does the sauce thicken without some form of thickener like flour or cornstarch? Mine came out like soup until I added it.
The cheese usually helps thicken things a bit, but we’d suggest using a bit less cream next round too to see if that helps.
Just made it and YUM! I subbed unsweetened almond milk and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for the idea!
Yummy!
This recipe was terrible. I followed it to a T but there was way too much liquid. It was more like a soup. I will NOT make it again. I am a big fan of yours, so I was really bummed to have this experience.
So sorry to hear this, Chesua. 😕 Thanks for sharing this feedback with us – we really appreciate it!
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. My 13 year old said “best.mac.and.cheese.ever”
Yay! 🎉
Made this for dinner tonight with tri-color Conchiglie pasta and Reggianito cheese because that’s what I had and OMG it was outstanding. This is the 4th recipe of yours I’ve made and it sounds kinda silly, but I continue to be impressed with how they all turn out EXACTLY like the picture ☺️
I made a couple of cocktails to go with the pasta and it was the perfect celebration dinner (my daughter and I left the house for the first time in 58 days this afternoon…total lockdown here in Argentina and today was the first day kids were allowed out for a walk) – so perfect in fact that my husband devoured 3 bowls! 😆
Glad to hear this pasta dish was a hit, Mirelle!
Delicious! It also came together quickly which I love. I used half and half because that’s what I had on hand and didn’t add the final 1/4 cup. The pasta was still a creamy dream. I paired the pasta with oven roasted asparagus. Thanks for the recipe!
Perfect with oven-roasted asparagus! Yum!
Its different kind of pasta recipe with cloves gives a extraordinary taste. Thanks. Visit link.👇👇
https://www.blogging-2020.com
This was literally the best pasta I have ever made!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed this, Lesli!
HI! I have made this three times so far and it’s so yummy! I threw some broccoli in during the last five minutes of cooking time and used banza pasta instead of regular. SO GOOD!
Glad you enjoyed this, Lisa!
I find myself slowly but surely losing desire fast food and resort more to home cooked meals. I also discovered that cooking with olive oil, grape seed oil or avocado oil is much more friendly on my system versus using canola oil. Thank you for another creative food blog Lindsay 🙂
this is exactly the recipe I’ve been craving lately. thanks!!
Enjoy, Lauren! 😊
Hi, can I use beef broth instead in this recipe?
Thanks,
Helen
That could work, it just might give a slightly different flavor.
So good and super easy!!!
Glad you enjoyed this dish, Rachel!
These shellbows are so cute! Have to see whether I can find these in France. Also, have been wanting to try a cook noodles in the sauce-type of recipe. Going to give this one a try. Looks perfect for my picky eaters!
Enjoy, Molly!
This recipe looks amazing. You’re right, that is some extremely adorable pasta. I live in Scotland, so I’m hoping I can find something similar here. Maybe once the Italian restaurants/delis in my neighborhood open up again. Thanks for sharing this.
Enjoy, Renee!
Made this tonight and it is heaven! So simple, yet so satisfying and delicious!
So when the recipe states that it makes 4 servings, is that 4 main course servings or 4 side dish servings? Thank you!
It’s more like 4 smaller main course servings or you it could be 4 side dish servings.
Glad you enjoyed this, Jessica! 😊
We love anything with parmesan. Sometimes simple recipes are true pleasure 🙂 loving it totally.
Totally agree, Priya!
So made a VEGAN VERSION of this and it was AMAZING. Used almond milk instead of whole milk and instead of heavy cream Silk makes a heavy cream alternative.
worked amazing will definitely doing this again for dinner!!!
YUM! Sounds delicious, Bre!
We just had this for dinner and it was amazing! This is going to be a new staple for us. I made a double recipe and used 4 cups broth and 2 1/2 cups milk since that worked out with what I had. I added a little extra parmesan and some garlic powder, onion powder, freshly ground pepper, and dried basil while the pasta was boiling. So so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Always say yes to extra Parmesan cheese – love it, Jessica! 👌
Beautiful!
YOU’RE TOO CUTE AND TOO FUN!!
Thanks for keeping us well fed and happy 😃 🙌🏻👍🏻❤️
She is.
This looks so amazing! Changing my meal plan as I type to include this recipe.
Enjoy, Elizabeth!