Pasta with Simple Cherry Tomato Sauce
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Here’s a super simple but super flavorful summer pasta recipe: orecchiette with sautéed cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, basil, mozzarella, and parmesan. It’s a classic combination, and it couldn’t be more delicious!
For three weeks in a row, Friday night dinner has been some variation of Marcella Hazan’s “fish in crazy water.” If you are unfamiliar, fish in crazy water (or pesce all’acqua pazza in Italian), is fish poached in a seasoned “water,” in essence a vegetable broth made from sautéed aromatics, tomatoes, and water.
Every time I taste this poaching liquid to test its seasoning before lowering in the fish, I am blown away by its flavor. How can so few ingredients create something so tasty? I wonder. And also: What else could I plunge into this super flavorful sauce?
Pasta of course! This just might be the easiest of easy pasta sauce recipes you make.
Years ago, I posted a similar cherry tomato pasta recipe, but the recipe relied on basil pesto, and the tomatoes cooked for only 30 seconds, so the dish was less saucy.
This version is simpler, and I like it better. I like it so much, in fact, I have a hard time NOT returning to the skillet for thirds and fourths. The recipe (theoretically) feeds four people, but when I made it most recently, Ben and I polished off 90% of it. We finished the remainder standing over the skillet, while taking turns cleaning the kitchen.
Friends, as always, I hope you find this super summery pasta as irresistible and satisfying as I.
PS: Another favorite summer pasta: Gemelli with Roasted Eggplant & Caramelized Onions
PPS: A favorite summer pasta salad: Kristina’s Simple Pasta Salad with Cherry Tomatoes
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients:
Thinly slice 4 cloves of garlic and 1 shallot (or a small onion).
Sweat the onions and garlic stovetop in olive oil. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Place a small skillet over low heat to toast some pine nuts.
Halve a pound of cherry tomatoes.
Add them to the skillet along with 1/2 a teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper flakes, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the tomatoes break down; then add a cup of water, and bring it to a gentle simmer.
Thinly slice some basil.
Add the pasta, toasted pine nuts, basil and 1/2 cup of parmesan to the skillet with the tomato sauce, and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
When everything tastes nicely seasoned, add 4 ounces of mozzarella. I like the pearl-sized balls but the slightly larger size (ciliegine) is nice as well.
Stir to combine and serve immediately.
Crack more pepper over each bowl to taste.
Shave more parmesan over top as well, if you wish.
Pasta with Simple Cherry Tomato Sauce
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Here’s a super simple but super flavorful summer pasta recipe: sautéed fresh cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, basil, mozzarella, parmesan and orecchiette pasta. It’s a classic combination, and it couldn’t be more delicious
If you are looking to bulk it up with some meat, a natural addition would be some browned, hot or sweet Italian sauce.
Notes:
- I love a short pasta for this recipe (as opposed to spaghetti or linguini), and I particularly like the Barilla orecchiette. Conveniently, the boxes are 12 ounces, which is what you need for this recipe.
- I have only ever made this with cherry tomatoes, but I imagine any ripe, juicy tomatoes you have on hand, will work just fine.
- I like the pearl-sized mozzarella balls, packed in brine. The slightly larger-sized balls, ciliegine, work fine, too, as would simply dicing up a large ball of mozzarella.
- If making for children, consider omitting the crushed red pepper flakes or using just a pinch.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- kosher salt
- 12 ounces pasta, such as orecchiette, see notes above
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crusted red pepper flakes (or less if serving to children)
- 1 pound small, sweet tomatoes, halved, see notes above
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan (a little over an ounce), plus more to taste
- 4 ounces small mozzarella balls, see notes above
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced or more to taste
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the pine nuts in a small skillet and place over the lowest heat possible.
- Meanwhile place the olive oil, shallots, and garlic in a large skillet. Season with a pinch of salt. Turn the heat to high. As soon as you see the oil beginning to shimmer, give the shallots and garlic a stir, cover the lid, and turn the heat to low. Cook for roughly 10 minutes, or until the shallots and garlic are very soft.
- When the pasta water boils, add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Boil the pasta till al dente, (11 to 12 minutes for the Barilla orecchiette, but check your package for the accurate time).
- Meanwhile, uncover the lid of the pan with the shallots and garlic. Add the crushed red pepper flakes and stir briefly. Raise the heat to medium, and add the tomatoes. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Before draining the pasta reserve a cup or so of the pasta cooking liquid. (You may not need the pasta cooking liquid, but reserve some just in case.) Drain the pasta. Do not rinse or shake. Immediately transfer drained pasta to the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Turn heat to low.
- Check on the pine nuts. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until the pine nuts are toasted — do not walk away from the skillet for a second. Add them to the pasta once toasted.
- Add the parmesan cheese to the pasta as well as fresh cracked pepper to taste. Taste. Season with salt to taste if necessary. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid if the sauce has thickened too much — I have yet to need the reserved liquid, but I always reserve some should I need it. Add more parmesan to taste if you wish.
- When the sauce is tasting seasoned to your liking, add the mozzarella and basil, stir to combine, then serve immediately. Shave more parmesan over top if you wish. Crack pepper over top if you wish as well.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian, American
Keywords: pasta, tomatoes, fresh, sauce, summer, parmesan, basil, pine nuts
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
89 Comments on “Pasta with Simple Cherry Tomato Sauce”
absolutely delicious! Added mushrooms and fresh shrimp. Brilliant and Cheers!
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Great to hear, Joseph! Mushrooms and shrimp sound delicious!
So easy and so delicious! Love everything about this delicious. I chose not to use pine nuts due to allergies and substituted Roma tomatoes and it turned out great! Everyone in the family loved it as well. I will definitely make again.
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Great to hear, Ally! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Your instructions say to add the garlic twice – first with the shallots, then after the ten minutes. Which is it?
Hi Laurie! I couldn’t find this in the instructions… I just re-read it several times. I add it with the shallots.
Delicious and quick to prepare. Added a little grilled chicken as well!
★★★★★
Yum! Love this idea 🙂 🙂 🙂
Kudos, Ali, not for just the wonderful taste, but also for the straight-forward, step-by-step explicit directions that enabled this octogenarian to accomplish many steps successfully without angst.
With much appreciation,
Ruth
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So nice to read all of this Ruth 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing 💕💕💕
Hi! Can I substitute chopped onion for the shallots?
Thanks!
Emily
Yes! Apologies for the delay here.
Even though I have made numerous recipes off of your site I just recently stumbled across this one. Ive made it 5 times since discovering it about a month ago! 😆 My whole family loves it. I follow it exactly most times and the only things Ive ever changed are added zucchini and spinach to try to get more veggies in my dinner. And once I had to use onion bc I was out of shallot. This recipe is amazingly tasty for how simple it is. I have yet to make a recipe off of your site that I dont love! 😊
thanks so much!
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So nice to read this, Erin 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of your notes. I love the idea of adding more veggies. Great to hear the whole family approves … not easy. Finally, apologises for the delay here … I’ve been out of the country, and I’m just catching up here.
Real delicious summery recipe!
Vive the tomatoes 🍅 and the Mediterranean light!!❤️
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Woohoo! Great to hear, Mary 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for writing.
Hi Ali, so envious of your trip! Nice getaway for just the two of you. I want to add some squash and zucchini I got from our farmers market to this recipe. Would you roast, , sauté or grill it first?
Thank you, Laura — it was a dream! I think roasting or grilling it sounds really nice, then adding it to the pasta just before serving. Hope all is well!
This is delicious! I’ve made it twice now, without any changes, using tomatoes from my garden. It’s my favorite new recipe by far! Thank you!
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Great to hear, Laura 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love this one, too.
This is absolutely delicious. At first I thought maybe 1 cup of water was too much, or maybe I hadn’t simmered my tomatoes long enough, but it ended up beautiful. Thank you!
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear, Danielle 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
This looks lovely! Can it be made minus the pine nuts. We have an allergy to all nuts at our house.
Absolutely!
okay so i’ve made this and loved this a bunch of times!
i just came across a milk street recipe for pasta that is a similar idea (not the same at all) BUT they cook the pasta in the same pan as the sauce! reducing the need for a pasta pot/colander. have you ever done anything like this and would you suggest trying it with this recipe? (they use 3 cups of water added to the sauce with the pasta). i tried the recipe below and would like to try it with other applications (as the reductions of pots to wash is a game changer!)
https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/farfalle-tomatoes-peas-pecorino
Hi! And yes! I have made this one-pot pasta, and I loved it, though commenters have had mixed success with it. And I do the one-pot pasta method with this one-pot baked ziti. It’s really a fun method! I believe a Martha Stewart editor popularized the method. To answer your question: yes, you can adapt the method however your heart desires!
just want to let you know that i did it! instead of adding one cup of water to the tomato mixture, i added four and the orecchiette. it turned out great! i love this recipe and reducing the extra pasta pot is such a win win. (not sure if it was as good as your original recipe but it was really good!) thank you for your encouragement. making your baked chicken fingers tonight! love your blog/books.
Oh fun! Love this so much! I will definitely try it. I love the idea of not using another pot. Thank you for your kind words 🙂 🙂 🙂
Added tomato paste for a more saucy texture. Delicious and simple.
Simple yet delicious. Adding it to my menu for this weekend’s buffet barbecue with the neighbors. Thanks.
Great recipe. What would be a good substitute for pine nuts, they are so expensive here? Bread crumbs?
Thanks for your reply.
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