Creamy Tomato Pasta (No Cream)
There’s no cream in this pasta. The sauce is four kinds of tomato, blended with olive oil until it turns pale orange and silky, then passed through a sieve for a smooth finish.
Each tomato does a different job. The paste is fried first for depth, the Roma and cherry tomatoes bring freshness and sweetness, and the canned crushed tomatoes give body. Garlic and basil stems are infused gently in the oil at the start.
It serves three and takes 45 minutes. The finish is butter, Parmigiano and a splash of pasta water, tossed off the heat until the sauce turns glossy.
Creamy Tomato Pasta (No Cream)
PASTA · ITALIAN · MEDIUM
Creamy Without the Cream
Blending the oil into the tomatoes turns the sauce into an emulsion. That's what makes it thick and creamy, and the oil also carries the tomato flavour and colour, so it tastes bigger than a plain tomato sauce.
Frying the tomato paste in oil first builds a deep, savoury base, so the sauce only needs 20 minutes on the stove. Most of the work is happening in the first three minutes.
The pasta is cooked a minute short and finished in the sauce. Butter and Parmigiano go in off the heat, so everything stays smooth and glossy and nothing splits or clumps.
Creamy Tomato Pasta (No Cream)
Ingredients
Sauce
- 30 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 Garlic Cloves Sliced
- 10 g Basil Stems (Optional)
- 16 g Tomato Paste
- 250 g Tomatoes Halved
- 150 g Cherry Tomatoes Halved
- 400 g Crushed or Diced Tomatoes Canned
- Chilli Flakes (Optional)
- 10 g Basil Leaves Torn
- 125 ml Olive Oil For Blending
Pasta
- 300 g Rigatoni
- 125 ml Pasta Water Reserved
- 30 g Unsalted Butter Cubed
- 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano Grated
- Basil Leaves Garnish
- Parmigiano Reggiano Garnish
Method
- Heat the 2 Tbsp olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and basil stems and infuse for 2 minutes, until fragrant and the garlic has not coloured. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, until it darkens to a brick red.
- Add the Roma tomatoes cut-side down and cook for 3 minutes until they start to soften. Add the cherry tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chilli flakes, salt and torn basil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have collapsed and the sauce has thickened. Remove the basil stems.
- Let the sauce cool for 5 minutes. Blend it in two batches (if needed) with the ½ cup olive oil, adding half the oil to each batch. Leave the lid vent open under a folded towel and blend for about 60 seconds, until it turns pale orange and creamy. Press the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve with a ladle and return it to a clean pan (optional)
- While the sauce cools and blends, boil the rigatoni in well-salted water for 1-2 minutes less than the package time. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water, then drain.
- Add the pasta to the strained sauce with 60ml (¼ Cup) of the pasta water. Toss over low heat for 1 minute until the sauce coats the pasta.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the butter, Parmigiano Reggiano and a splash more pasta water. Toss vigorously until glossy. Finish with basil and extra Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.