Creamy Chilli Rosé Pasta
A creamy tomato and chilli sauce, properly rosé in colour and flavour, tossed through rigatoni with garlic and parmesan. Fifteen minutes, start to finish.
Chop the chillies as finely as you can, right down to a near paste, so the heat spreads evenly through the sauce instead of hitting in occasional sharp bites. Pull the pasta a minute under packet timing too, it finishes cooking in the sauce during that last minute, which keeps it from turning mushy.
This one’s best kept in the fridge, up to 3 days, rather than the freezer. Cream-based sauces like this tend to split once thawed, so it’s not worth freezing.
Creamy Chilli Rosé Pasta
PASTA · DINNER · EASY
A restaurant-style sauce in fifteen minutes
Chopping the chilli down to a near paste spreads the heat evenly through the sauce, rather than leaving it to show up in the occasional hot bite.
Holding back some of the starchy pasta water and adding it gradually at the end helps the sauce cling properly to the rigatoni. It's much easier to loosen a thick sauce than to rescue one that's gone too thin.
The whole thing comes together in fifteen minutes, which makes it as good for a quick Tuesday dinner as it is for something you'd actually serve to guests.
Creamy Chilli Rosé Pasta
Ingredients
- 15 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 Garlic Cloves Grated
- 2 Long Red Chillies (Mild) Chopped or Sliced
- 40 g Concentrated Tomato Paste
- 250 ml Thickened Cream
- 250 g Rigatoni Pasta
- Salt & Pepper
- Basil To Serve
- Parmesan Cheese To Serve
Method
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, season with salt, and cook the pasta 1 minute less than the packet instructions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.
- Add the olive oil, garlic, and chilli to a large pan over medium-high heat. Sauté for 1 minute. Season with salt.
- Add the tomato paste, mix, and cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Add the cream, grated parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 4–6 minutes, until thickened.
- Add the al dente pasta and mix well. Cook for 1 minute, until the sauce has thickened and coats the pasta. Adjust the sauce consistency with the reserved pasta water as needed. Check the seasoning and remove from the heat.
- Serve in bowls, garnished with parmesan, parsley, and cracked black pepper.
Why chop the chillies so finely?⌄
Finely chopping the chilli, almost to a paste, lets the heat spread evenly through the whole sauce. Leave it in bigger pieces and you'll get occasional sharp, hot bites instead of even warmth throughout.
How spicy is this pasta?⌄
Mild, the long red chillies used here bring warmth rather than serious heat. Leave the seeds in if you want a bit more kick, or use fewer chillies if you'd rather keep it gentle.
Can I use a different pasta shape instead of rigatoni?⌄
Penne or casarecce both work well, anything with ridges or a hollow centre that can hold onto the sauce. Just adjust the boiling time to suit whichever shape you use.
What can I use instead of thickened cream?⌄
Heavy or double cream both work as a substitute. Avoid anything lower fat than that, it's more likely to split when it hits the heat and acidity from the tomato paste.
