I had the same problem with pasta, asparagus, and shrimp. I added butter and parmesan and a bit of garlic, but it was disappointingly bland. I added lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and it was still bland. I suppose if I cooked a head of crushed garlic that would have perked it up, but we aren’t big on cooking heads of crushed garlic.
You need a liquid of some sort to adhere to the pasta and carry flavor. It doesn’t matter how good the ingredients are if it’s essentially a bowl of noodles + stuff that doesn’t stick to noodles.
With what you describe, I’d be going for white wine and cream. Or shrimp/fish stock, if you have it. Toss it with the pasta, sprinkle the Parmesan over it all and toss to combine.
I wouldn’t necessarily bother with a cream sauce for something as simple as butter and parmesan with pasta. Here’s Mark Bittman’s recipe for instance.
There’s a few possibilities as to why it’s not turning out (#2 would be my main problem):
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Not enough salt, either in the cooking water or afterwards (but the parmesan should help the latter part.)
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Poor quality parmesan (meaning the stuff in the green can or many domestic brands. For example, the most commonly available domestic brand here, Stella, sucks if its purpose is to be the defining flavor of a dish. Use a good Italian Parmagiano-Reggiano here, please.)
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Not enough parmesan (be very generous here.)
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Mediocre butter. Depending on your tastes, this may or may not be a big factor for you.
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You just don’t like pasta with butter and parmesan and want something with more layers of flavors.
Sun dried tomato… and maybe a bit of fresh ground pepper
And of you hadn’t said “vegetarian”, I’d have also said bacon 
Pretty much what Athena said. It reads like half a recipe and the butter + olive oil is a bit much. You can’t really save it, it’s just a poor recipe if that’s all there is.
I thought butter was an animal product and was verboten for vegetarians.
Depends on what flavor of vegetarian you are. It’s forbidden for vegans, but most vegetarians I know are of the ovo-lacto type, and those that don’t eat eggs and dairy explicitly self-identify as vegan.
This, do this. Lots of parmesan and make sure it and the olive oil are high quality.
My own version would see you dump the parsley and toss in some basil leaves and sliced black olives as well. (plus obligatory grind of black pepper from a massive and suggestive grinder)
I’d add an acid – white wine or lemon juice – and some baby arugula for a nutty/bitter element.
Instead of the parsley or in addition to the Parsley- Fresh Mint, and Fresh Basil; instead of the oil, a heavy cream and butter sauce, with plenty of gorgonzola (keep the cup);with some limoncello reduced out or flambeed with some aromatics- onions and fennelk would be the best.
Boil a small box of fettucini or spaghettini. Sautee thinly sliced onions and fennel with the butter til sweet golden and translucent limp, flambee out a goodly measure of limoncello into the aromatics, add the heavy cream, bring to a light simmer, anymore and it will break… add in chunks of the gorgonzola to melt and incorporate, add the pasta to the pan and toss, sprinkle in a fistfull of chopped mint and basil.
I’m thinking you might be able to get away with a squeeze of lemon to finish along with the herbs, but it might be too much for the flavors… maybe serve with a wedge of lemon and some fennel fronds to garnish, instead… encouraging the self serve addition of lemon juice. Maybe call it Lemon Fennel Gorgonzola Fetuccini… or Fettucini "Blank’ (name, place, hotel, adjective, adverb…wotever.)
Damnit, you guys are making me hungry!
Will definitely try the limoncello trick; I have a buttload of regular old blue cheese <gorgonzola is my favorite, but that’s not what I have>; do you think that recipe would be alright with regular old blue cheese?
Yep, blue cheese will work just fine. But when I’m thinking of this dish in preparation, my groundswell and inspiration is a very specific and ultimately simple pasta with very high quality and specific ingredients that speak for themselves. Although blue cheese is very similar, it is not Italian Gorgonzola…Everyones mileage might vary.
Just like how not every limoncello will flame… I’m thinking more on the high octane side of Lemon flavored high proof white liquor. Not “too much sugar Limoncello”. either.
Another type of “Vodka Sauce”.
Precisely.
The trick to vodka sauce is that while a tomato-cream sauce is a delicious idea, it’s just too smooth and is essentially kid’s food at best. The vodka gives it the kick it needs to stand on its own.
Likewise, blue cheese will need a kick. All of these ideas- sour or bitter, have merit. Personally, I think I would take the “play it up to play it down” approach. Cut the emphasis on blue cheese and add healthy amounts of spinach, lemon and pepper, and garlic. Think of it sort of a garlic toast in pasta form.
For those interested, the point of the vodka in vodka sauce is that tomatoes have flavor compounds that are only alcohol soluble, so the vodka brings out these flavors. Cooked correctly (well, in my opinion at any rate), one shouldn’t really taste the vodka. All the alcohol won’t burn off, though, so there will be some faint warmness to it. (alcohol burn-off chart for those interested)
Things that go well with blue cheese:
butternut squash
walnuts
spinach
garlic
sage
lemon
bacon/pancetta
Pine nuts are always good - they add texture and flavour. I’ve never tried them with blue cheese but I reckon they’d go. Sprinkle some on and report back.