Mascarpone = Cream Cheese?

[NotQuiteCockney]

I often bung a bit of mascarpone (or cream) into a tomatoey pasta sauce. Can I use cream cheese instead?

I would.

yes, i would too!

Yep, works just as well.

well its not really the same, but cream cheese is definitely healthier, mascarpone is one of the fattest cheeses around!!!

Oh, that's worth knowing, about the fat content. I had noticed that mascarpone is really just cream/butter with a bit of cheese to it.

We ended up using some Italian soft blue cheese (I forget what kind) as well as cream cheese, and that worked well. The kids weren't big fans of the sauce, but it had lots of spinach in it, so it's not like they would have liked it without the blue cheese.