The Easiest Creamy Tomato Pasta

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total: 35 mins
Serves: 4

First of all, thanks for visiting my website! This is my first post. Please please please give me feedback.
I would call this my take on the Gigi Hadid pasta that went viral a few years back… this is just a slightly healthier option, in my opinion. I say this because I drastically cut down on the cream, by adding tomatoes to the recipe so as to reduce the bulk from the sauce. I also added onion for some extra veg, and of course, extra flavour!
I do not drink either, so this will be an alcohol free version as well.
Without further ado, here’s the simplest creamy tomato pasta that you will ever make.

Method

1. Boil your pasta in salted, boiling water for 8-9 minutes, if you like your pasta al dente (which is what I do, I feel like mushy pasta has a bitter taste to it). I’ll also put up a more in depth tutorial for making good pasta.
2. While the pasta is boiling, do the vegetable prep. Dice the onion and the garlic. As I mentioned before, I find that white onions are best in pasta dishes. But honestly, just use what you have. It does not make that big of a difference. You could also mince the garlic instead. See image below for reference.
3. If you choose to use fresh tomatoes, Dice those too. I opted for diced canned tomatoes.
4. Add the olive oil to the pan & let heat up on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onions to the pan. Saute the onions till lightly golden, then add in the garlic.
5. Add dry spices; the oregano, black pepper, and if you opted for dried parsley, add that in as well. Do not put the chilli flakes in at this stage, you’ll cough your lungs out. Ask me how I know. That also depends on how hot your chilli flakes are. Add the tomato paste when the onions are slightly more golden. Stir intermittently and let cook through, you’ll know when it’s done when the oil adopts an orange-ish colour from the tomato paste.
6. Add the tomatoes. Stir intermittently so that they don’t stick. Add about a cup of pasta water if using fresh tomatoes. If using canned tomatoes, add only 1/2 cup. This is because canned tomatoes tend to be mushier and more watery anyway, so not much moisture is needed.
7. Add about a teaspoon of salt. If you think that might be too much, start with half a teaspoon instead and see how you go. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cover the pan to allow tomatoes to soften without losing too much moisture for about four minutes.
8. Uncover the pan and let the tomatoes cook through before adding in the cream. If using fresh parsley, add at this stage. You’ll know when the tomatoes are cooked because they darken in colour. If you feel like the sauce is too thick, you could add in a little more pasta water.
9. OPTIONAL: If you prefer a smooth sauce, you could blend your sauce in a food processor or blender at this stage. I do not, so I skipped this step.
10. Add the cream. Stir in, and then add the chilli flakes. Cover and let sit for about 2 minutes, then take the lid off. Again, let it darken just a little.
11. Turn off the heat and add in the cheese. Mix in, and then add pasta and mix again. Garnish with parmesan. Enjoy!
    

Tips

• I prefer to use diced garlic over minced garlic, because the greater the difference in size between the onion and garlic, the more likely the garlic is to burn. This is because the bigger pieces of onion will need more time to cook than the tiny pieces of minced garlic, so by the time the onions are done, the garlic will be burnt.
• You’ll know that your pasta is al dente when it has a thin white layer in the centre when cut through the middle.
• You could skip the tomato paste if you want, but I find that it gives the sauce a richer taste and colour.
• If you dumped out the pasta water, don’t worry. You can still use regular water. The starch in the pasta water just helps ‘combine’ the fat and water elements of the sauce, giving it a smoother finish.