Creamy Garlic Rose Pasta
A rosé sauce is really the best of both worlds, tomato and cream together, neither one taking over. Garlic and a touch of sugar round it out nicely.
Simmering whole basil stalks in the sauce adds flavour without any bitterness, then they get fished out before the fresh, sliced leaves go in at the end.
Bringing a splash of pasta water across when you add the noodles helps the sauce cling properly, so every bite is coated, not just sitting in a pool underneath.
Creamy Garlic Rose Pasta
PASTA · DINNER · EASY
Tomato and Cream, Properly Balanced
Neither the tomato nor the cream overpowers the other here, it's a genuinely balanced sauce rather than just a tomato sauce with cream stirred through.
Using the basil twice, stalks for flavour while it simmers and fresh leaves at the end, gets more out of the one bunch than most recipes bother to.
It's ready in 20 minutes but tastes like it took a lot longer, a genuinely good one for a weeknight that still feels special.
Creamy Garlic Rose Pasta
Ingredients
- 500 g Penne
- 22.5 ml Olive Oil
- ½ Brown (Yellow) Onion Diced
- 4 Garlic Cloves Sliced
- 30 ml Dry White Wine
- 600 g Diced Tomatoes
- 6 g Sugar Optional
- 180 ml Thickened Cream
- 10 g Fresh Basil Torn
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
- Parmigiano Reggiano Grated
- Cracked Black Pepper To Serve
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil Drizzle
Method
- Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta 1 minute less than the packet instructions.
- Place a large high-rimmed pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and onion, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 45 seconds.
- Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil stalks, and seasoning to taste. Mix to combine and bring to a boil. Add the thickened cream, bring back to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 6 minutes.
- Remove and discard the basil stalks. Add the sliced basil leaves and check the seasoning. Add the pasta into the sauce straight from the saucepan, bringing along some of the pasta water. Mix to combine, adding more pasta water if needed (it helps the sauce stick to the pasta).
- Serve in bowls, grate over some Parmigiano Reggiano, and garnish with basil, cracked black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Dig in.
