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What Is Pomodoro Sauce?
Pomodoro sauce is a traditional Italian tomato sauce. It is made simply with just a few fresh and flavorful ingredients: fresh cherry tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic and basil leaves. This timeless pasta dish is named after its featured ingredient: pomodoro, which means “tomato” in Italian. While it seems like a very basic pasta sauce, it is very versatile and makes an appearance in a number of dishes, like classic Parmesan-style entrèes to simple summer pasta dinners. Our Pomodoro Pasta recipe cooks up in just 40 minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Pasta Pomodoro Recipe
Pomodoro Pasta is a super simple, authentic Italian tomato sauce that we know you’re going to love. Made with just a handful of quality ingredients, this pasta dish captures the heart of true Italian cuisine. It’s the perfect pasta sauce for that abundance of summertime tomatoes from the garden. Not only is it an incredible sauce all on its own—loaded with vibrant, fresh tomato flavor—this sauce is the foundation of a number of recipes that call for a classic tomato sauce. Believe it or not, you can create a from-scratch Italian pasta recipe with 5 ingredients in just 40 minutes total. What’s not to love?
The Ingredients You Will Need To Make Pasta Pomodoro
There are few ingredients that go into making this simple, authentic Italian sauce.
Pasta: For this dish, we choose a long cut—the ever-popular Spaghetti. If you want to branch out, you can choose nearly any long cut of pasta like Capellini, Fettuccine or Tagliatelle. Whatever cut you choose, be sure to cook it for that perfect al dente bite. Mushy noodles won’t stand a chance in this pasta recipe.
Olive Oil: With only a couple of ingredients, every one of them counts! The foundation of a great Italian or Mediterranean meal begins with an exceptional Extra Virgin Olive Oil that owns its fresh, raw olive flavor (from cold pressing the fruit into oil).
Tomatoes: While there are many types of tomatoes you can use for a classic pomodoro sauce, we love the sweetness of cherry tomatoes. If fresh tomatoes aren’t in season, we recommend our DeLallo Tomato Passata or Whole-Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes.
Herbs: This tomato sauce is super simple in the aromatics department—only fresh garlic and fresh basil leaves. If cooked well, garlic will not overpower this tomato sauce. It’s important to allow the tomatoes to shine. The basil leaves are julienned to unlock their fragrant sweetness and added at the end of cooktime.
How To Make Pasta Pomodoro
1. Cook the pasta.
Cook the pasta according to package instructions (for that perfect al dente texture). Reserve 2 cups of hot pasta cooking water before draining the pasta.
2. Flavor the oil.
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the garlic and once it begins to brown and become fragrant, remove and discard the cloves.
3. Add the tomatoes.
Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pan, season to taste. Cook on high heat for about 10 minutes, until the sauce becomes nearly creamy in texture. Add the basil at the end of cook time.
4. Bring it together.
Add the hot pasta to the pan. Stir to coat. Turn the heat to a low simmer and cook together for 2 more minutes to marry flavors. Add some of the starchy pasta cooking water, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
5. Serve.
Serve the pasta with a finishing drizzle of olive oil.
Top Tips
Leftover Pomodoro Pasta can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The sauce itself (without the pasta) can be frozen for up to 3 months. That said, this pasta is best made and enjoyed right away.
Reheat the Pomodoro Pasta in a pot on the stovetop. Cook over low heat until just hot. Add a splash of water, if necessary to keep it from drying out.
Substitutions And Additions
Use fresh garden or heirloom tomatoes in place of cherry tomatoes.
No fresh tomatoes? Use whole-peeled Italian tomatoes like Roma or San Marzano.
Spice it up with crushed red pepper flakes.
Finish the dish with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.
What To Serve With Pasta Pomodoro
Pasta Pomodoro is a simple pasta dish that can be served on its own as a lighter pasta dish or alongside entrées like breaded, fried Parmesan-style veal, chicken or eggplant.
