Creamy tomato pasta
Hello people. Posting a perfect creamy tomato sauce recipe that can be used for a pasta or a pizza has been on my list forever now. My cousin Shreya requested for the red sauce (arrabiatta) recipe. Frankly, I am not a red sauce person and when I perfected the red sauce I still had to go ahead and add some cream to it to make it creamy :D. Shre – So skip the cream part for your taste. Also note that if you want the dish to be saucey, make sure to immeidate have it or add a little water and heat before having it because if you leave the dish to cool down, it will thicken. One more point to note here is I somehow do not like the taste of adding too many veggies to this dish. Hence, I have literally kept it to onion & tomato and pasta. Probably not the ideal way to have it but I would much rather have some veggies on the side. If I do perfect a creamy tomato pasta with veggies, I will surely update this recipe or at least lay out the combo of veggies that can be used up here. And oh, while noting down the recipe on my recipe book I roasted the tomato on the flame and while documenting it I went with the option of microwaving (I learnt that I could do this from a friend recently). What I realised in this process is the roasting of tomatoes adds a certain earthy flavour to the tomatoes which I loved in the pasta. So I have added that in the notes. However, the roasting and cooling takes a little extra time & ofcourse, you need to be around the stove to constantly keep turning the tomatoes. So if you don’t have the time or the patience, go for the microwave option. However, if you want that perfect restaurant type taste, roast the tomatoes. Shre – this above para is more for you than for anyone else I think :D. Give it a try and let me know how you like it. I am hoping you will find that taste that you have in your mind!
- 1 cup penne pasta
- 1/4 tsp olive oil
- 1 large tomato
- 1.5 tsp butter
- 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
- 4 pods garlic
- 1.5 tsp dried italian seasoning/ mixed herb seasoning
- 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
- 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
- 8-10 nos basil leaves
- 2 tbsp thick cream
- 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
-
Cook pasta as per package instructions.
-
Drain the pasta (reserve the pasta water) and mix 1/4t olive oil (to avoid pasta from sticking) & set it aside.
-
Meanwhile, mark wash a large tomato and mark an X with a knife on the bottom part of the tomato.
-
Place it in a microwave safe bowl & microwave on high for 5 minutes.
-
Let it cool down. Remove the skin & grind to a smooth puree. Set it aside.
-
Grate the garlic.
-
Heat a pan with 1T butter. Once hot, throw in the garlic & saute till it starts to brown.
-
Add the onion & saute till its translucent.
-
Now pour the tomato puree.
-
Along with this, add all the seasonings – 1.5t dried italian seasoning, 1t dried red chilli flakes, 1/2t kashmiri chilli powder, 1/2t black pepper powder.
-
Cover with a lid on low flame & let everything cook till the raw smell from tomato weans off (roughly 5 minutes).
-
Add roughly torn basil leaves, reserve pasta water, thick cream & mix everything together.
-
Once it comes to a boil, throw in the cooked pasta.
-
Mix everything. check & adjust salt/ seasonings. Add more water if required.
-
Finally add 1T parmesan cheese and turn off the heat.
-
Serve hot!
- Adjust spice levels as per your taste. We like ours spicy
- Roast your tomatoes on open flame. I felt a world of difference in terms of taste (did not expect it and so decided to microwave it). However, from the next time I am going to take the effort & roast the tomatoes.
- If the tomatoes are too tangy, add 1/2t sugar to balance out flavours while the tomato puree is getting cooked.
- Add more water if you want the tomato sauce to be watery.
- You can skip the cream part if you just want something like an arrabiata.
- If you don’t have fresh basil leaves, that’s alright. Just add a bit more of the dry seasoning.
Stepwise pictures
Cook pasta as per package instructions. Drain it (reserve pasta water), mix with 1/4t olive oil. Set it aside. 
Clean the tomato & mark an ‘X’ with a knife on the bottom part of the tomato. 
Microwave in high for 5 minutes. Let it cool down. 
Remove the skin. 
Grind to a smooth puree. Set it aside. 
Grate garlic. In a pan/ kadai, heat 1.5t butter. Add garlic. Saute till it starts to brown. 
Then add onion till it turns translucent. 
Pour in the tomato puree. 
Add all the seasonings – 1.5t dried italian seasonings, 1t dried red chilli flakes, 1/2t kashmiri cilli powder, 1/2t black pepper powder. Cover with lid and let it cook on low flame (approx 5 minutes). 
Add roughly torn basil leaves.. 
.. and the reserve pasta water. 
.. and thick cream. 
Mix everything. You can add more water if you want the pasta to be saucey. 
When the mixture starts to bubble, throw in the cooked pasta and mix everything together. Check & adjust salt/ seasoning. Finally add 1T parmesan cheese. 
Mix everything together. Turn off heat. 
Serve hot!
