This healthy & hearty pasta pomodoro will become your go-to weeknight dinner! The creamy sauce is bursting with tangy tomato flavor.
Is there anything better than creamy pasta? How about creamy tomato pasta! I’m so excited about this pasta pomodoro recipe because it is basically everything I want to eat for dinner any night of the week. Big, hearty rigatoni noodles are coated in a tangy, luscious creamy tomato sauce. Plus, it’s a healthy bowl of pasta because there are quite a few yummy sautéed vegetables mixed in here as well.
This post is in partnership with Mutti Tomatoes, Italy’s #1 tomato brand, which is perfect timing because we are really craving summer food over here… even though it’s only April and summer is still a while away. Thanks to Mutti, we can dream of Italian summer nights with their fresh-tasting 100% Italian tomatoes, which are picked at their peak ripeness and packed with only a pinch of sea salt.
This recipe starts with my go-to Marinara sauce. Aside from using it to make the creamy pasta sauce in this final recipe, it’s a simple, quick pantry-based recipe that you should keep in your back pocket. It’s delicious on pasta, pizza, or even spaghetti squash. Everyone needs a basic marinara recipe and this one is mine.
Creamy Pasta Pomodoro
Now to make marinara just a little bit more exciting… we’re blending it into a creamy pasta sauce! Oh, and I forgot to mention, we’re not using cream or cheese… but no one has to know that. To make the creamy pomodoro sauce, simply blend the marinara with cashews and tomato paste.
For this recipe I use Mutti Double Concentrated Tomato Paste. This is not any ordinary tomato paste – this tomato paste is so wonderful because it comes in a tube instead of a tiny can! I often like to use just a little bit of tomato paste to dramatically punch up flavors in sauces and soups. It’s SO convenient to be able to use a tablespoon and store the rest (it lasts a really long time) without having to make use of an entire can.
Because this is a vegetable blog, I like to serve my pasta with equal parts vegetable. Zucchini, spinach, arugula, fresh thyme, and Mutti Cherry Tomatoes make this creamy pasta pomodoro light and fresh.
Take a look at that creamy sauce!
If you love this pasta pomodoro recipe…
Check out this post for more vegan recipes, then try one of these favorite pasta recipes:
- Best Vegetarian Lasagna
- Easy Pesto Pasta
- Homemade Mac and Cheese
- Easy Baked Ziti
- Lemon Linguine with Tomatoes
- Fettuccine Alfredo with Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
For more easy dinner ideas, check out this post!
Creamy Pasta Pomodoro
Ingredients
Basic marinara
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons finely minced shallot
- 1 large garlic clove, finely minced
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- ⅛ teaspoon cane sugar
- Pinch of dried oregano
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Creamy Tomato Sauce
- Marinara recipe, from above
- ¼ cup raw cashews* (see note)
- ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup pasta water
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt
For the pasta
- 10 ounces rigatoni
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin half moons
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 14-ounce cans Mutti Cherry Tomatoes, drained
- 6 cups spinach or mix of spinach & arugula
- ¼ cup chopped parsley or sliced basil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the marinara sauce: Heat the olive oil in a small pot over low heat. Add the shallot, garlic, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomatoes and their juices, balsamic vinegar, cane sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Make the creamy sauce: Add the marinara to a blender with the cashews, tomato paste, salt, and ¼ cup of water. Blend until smooth. Set aside until ready to use. Before serving, stir in ¼ cup hot pasta cooking water to loosen it up so that it’ll nicely coat the pasta.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions or until al dente.
- While the pasta cooks, heat generous drizzles of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini, thyme, and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Sautee, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes or until heated through. Add the spinach and gently toss until wilted. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
- Scoop the pasta into individual bowls, add scoops of the creamy sauce, and toss to coat. Distribute the vegetables among the bowls and top with parsley and or basil. Season to taste and serve.
Notes
This post is in partnership with Mutti.
I love to make a simply gravy of tomatoes, onions, and garlic, but I’m really excited to try THIS recipe and hope I win!!!
We use tomatoes all the time. We have Italian at least twice a week. And we have Mexican a lot and all of my Mexican has tomatoes too. Carne Guisada can’t be made with out tomatoes. Nor can you make red enchilada sauce without tomatoes. I go thru can after can of tomatoes. It’s like our most used vegetable. No week goes by without them.
Hi, do you have any idea how much 6 cups of spinach and rocket weighs in grams or ounces? Thanks
Hi Nina, I don’t but I would just take two or three big handfuls 🙂
Recently discovered your blog and it’s a breath of fresh air! My favorite tomato recipes are probably shakshuka and tomato soup. Just planted my tomatoes in the garden and I can’t wait to harvest them and smash some onto some grainy toast with salt and pepper.
I love roasting cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves in a little olive oil, then serving them over pasta swirled with fresh pesto and topped with grated Parmesan.
I’m just starting to use raw cashews in sauces and look forward to making your recipe in the next day or two!
I love to make fresh pasta sauce, and minestrone soup from tomatoes. Would love to win!
Oh thank you this sounds awesome! I usually eat pasta every day and your recipes keep it fresh, delicious and interesting. My fav tomato recipe is with edamame and corn. Toss with halved cherry tomatoes and a vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil, shallots, salt and pepper. Let sit for at least an hour. Sometimes I marinate the tomatoes first then toss all together. Top with fresh basil and you have the perfect light yet satisfying summer lunch or dinner!
haven’t had this dish (or one near it) in awhile, love the cashew creaminess! Great creative way to add some flavor, thank you
When tomatoes are in season, there’s nothing better than a simple caprese salad, especially one with a little twist, like adding slice of watermelon or peaches with fresh mint.
As a 30 year long vegetarian I often run out of dinner ideas and Love your help and inspiration . Until late into my twenties, I refused to touch anything that had tomatoes in it. I went to a friend’s parents for dinner and they served lasagna. I had to have some for fear of being rude and Holly Thunders my mind was blown away. I since eat everything tomato in order to make up for lost time.
BTW most recently used both canned and paste to make Shakshuka! Amazing.
My favorite thing to make with tomatoes is homemade restaurant style salsa!
I love tomatoes! Lately, I’ve been really into making tomato-based stews with chickpeas and vegetables. My favorite combination right uses roasted eggplant, fresh spinach, harissa, and lots of lemon!
A big batch of pasta sauce – especially my version that uses tons of shredded veggies that I then blitz with the immersion blender. Good quality tomatoes & a little paste are a must.
Tomato sorbet with basalmic vinegar! The best!!
I love making all kinds of dishes with tomatoes – soups and stews, pasta bakes, salads … pretty much any recipe that calls for tomatoes, I will happily oblige!
YUMMMM. Can’t wait to make it! And I just had the stomach flu so that is saying a LOT. Ha! I just started making fresh caprese salad again – my favorite summer side dish!
I love to make stuffed heirloom tomatoes. I use quinoa, cauliflower rice, and ground turkey. (I use a port wine with oregano and basil to kick the “stuffing” up a notch)
Simple dishes like this are the best! I love tossing roasted cherry tomatoes with a little penne, good olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and a lot of parmesan…simple but tasty!
I love roasting tomatoes with garlic and spreading it on some fresh bread with a little bit of fresh basil – amazing! Also love adding tomato paste to almost anything to bring a great depth of flavor.
I love to make tikka masala with cherry tomatoes! Yum!