Mascarpone Pastas

We have made 2 different pasta dishes with mascarpone-based sauces and have loved them. They are WAY lighter than regular cream sauce dishes, but have tons of flavor.

The 1st one is called "Cavatelli Pasta with Lobster, Spring Peas, and Mascarpone". We pretty much scrapped a lot of the recipe except for the sauce - we couldn't find cavatelli (we used penne instead) and we didn't have lobster (we used chicken instead). Here's the recipe for the sauce:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
8 ounces fresh or frozen peas
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1/2 cup Mascarpone
1 tablespoon kosher salt

In heavy large sauté pan over moderately high heat, heat olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 1 minute. Add chicken stock, peas, parsley, thyme, chives, pasta, and Mascarpone. Stir to combine, then simmer 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.

(The full recipe is here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cavatelli-Pasta-with-Lobster-Spring-Peas-and-Mascarpone-350394#)

The 2nd one is called "Penne with Smoked Chicken and Mascarpone". We used boiled and shredded chicken (where does one find smoked chicken?), we used red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar (whoops - I forgot to get sherry vinegar at the grosh!), we used asparagus instead of green beans and zucchini, and we added some thyme. Here's the recipe for the sauce:

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid

In a small saucepan, combine the mascarpone and sherry vinegar. Cook over low heat until melted; keep warm. In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the vegetables and the mascarpone sauce; add some of the reserved cooking liquid if the pasta seems dry. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

(The full recipe is here: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=651097)