Creamy Tomato Pasta
An easy yet incredible dish that you'll want any day of the year! Made with tender pasta, readily available canned tomatoes, a fair splash of cream, herbaceous basil, sharp parmesan and just a few other simple staples.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 lb. mini penne pasta or regular penne, dry
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 Tbsp butter**
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (1 heaping cup)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)
- 28 oz. can crushed Roma tomatoes or crushed San Marzano tomatoes*
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup (1.5 oz) grated parmesan, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 3/4 cup pasta water
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted boiling water to al dente according to directions on package. Reserve and set aside 3/4 cup pasta water before draining then drain pasta.
- Meanwhile melt butter in a 12-inch saute pan or a pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until tender, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds, then add tomato paste and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir heavy cream into sauce. Add drained pasta, parmesan and basil then toss mixture.
- Thin with reserved pasta water as needed (each variety of canned tomatoes varies in thickness, plus the sauce will thicken as it rests). Serve with more parmesan as desired.
Notes
- *Whole canned San Marzano tomatoes work great as well, just blitz them in a food processor until crushed about 10 short pulses.
- **Extra virgin olive oil may be substituted for the butter.
- Makes about 10 cups using mini penne.