Mi madre prepara una salsa con nata para la pasta.

Mi without an accent is the possessive adjective meaning my: mi madre = my mother.

Mí with an accent is a pronoun used after prepositions:

• para mí = for me
• sin mí = without me

So here, because it is describing madre, the correct form is mi.

In Spanish, family members often appear without an article when they are used with a possessive word like mi, tu, su, etc.

So:

• mi madre = my mother
• tu hermano = your brother

You would not normally say la mi madre in standard modern Spanish.

Prepara is the conjugated form of the verb preparar.

The infinitive is preparar = to prepare.
But in a full sentence, Spanish usually needs a conjugated verb:

• yo preparo = I prepare
• tú preparas = you prepare
• él/ella prepara = he/she prepares

Since mi madre is she, the sentence uses prepara.

It can often mean either, depending on context.

Mi madre prepara una salsa con nata para la pasta can mean:

• My mother prepares a cream sauce for pasta (habit / general fact)
• My mother is preparing a cream sauce for the pasta (right now), if the situation makes that clear

Spanish uses the simple present more broadly than English does. If you specifically want to emphasize right now, Spanish can also use:

• Mi madre está preparando... = My mother is preparing...

Una is the indefinite article, meaning a or an.

So:

• una salsa = a sauce

Spanish often uses an article where English would too. Here it is referring to one sauce, not sauce in general.

Here, salsa means sauce.

In English, salsa often refers specifically to a tomato-based dip, especially in Mexican food. In Spanish, salsa is the general word for sauce of many kinds:

• salsa de tomate = tomato sauce
• salsa de queso = cheese sauce
• salsa con nata = sauce with cream

So in this sentence, it is not necessarily the English food item called salsa.

In Spain, nata usually means cream, especially dairy cream used in cooking or desserts.

So una salsa con nata is a sauce made with cream.

A useful note:

• In Spain, nata is the normal word.
• In many Latin American varieties, learners may hear crema more often in similar contexts.

Con nata means with cream — the sauce is made using cream as an ingredient.

• con = with
• nata = cream

De nata would sound more like of cream or cream-based in a more classificatory way, and it is less natural in this sentence. For a straightforward everyday sentence about ingredients, con nata is the most natural choice.

Para la pasta means for the pasta.

Here para shows purpose or intended use:

• the sauce is intended for the pasta

So the idea is:

• She prepares a sauce with cream for the pasta
• in more natural English: She makes a cream sauce for the pasta

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

So la pasta can sound natural even when English would simply say pasta:

• para la pasta = for the pasta / for pasta

In context, it may refer to:

1. a specific pasta dish already understood, or
2. pasta in a general meal context

Spanish frequently includes the article where English might leave it out.

The personal a in Spanish is normally used before a specific human direct object (and sometimes pets or personified beings).

Examples:

• Veo a mi madre = I see my mother
• Conozco a Juan = I know Juan

But una salsa is a thing, not a person, so there is no personal a:

• Mi madre prepara una salsa...

Yes, but this order is the most neutral and natural.

Standard order here is:

• Mi madre = subject
• prepara = verb
• una salsa con nata = direct object
• para la pasta = purpose / destination

You could change the order in some contexts, especially for emphasis, but the original sentence sounds very normal:

• Mi madre prepara una salsa con nata para la pasta.

Although pasta can mean money in some colloquial Spanish contexts, here it clearly means pasta as food.

Why? Because the sentence is about:

• preparing a sauce
• with cream
• for the pasta

That cooking context makes the meaning unambiguous.

It describes salsa.

The structure is:

• una salsa con nata = a sauce with cream
• para la pasta = for the pasta

So the cream belongs to the sauce, not to the pasta itself.

Yes, that would also be correct.

• preparar = to prepare
• hacer = to make / do

In this sentence:

• prepara sounds slightly more like prepares
• hace sounds slightly more like makes

Both are very natural in everyday Spanish.