I used to think that serving up a homemade pasta sauce had to take a few hours of simmering. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that is the best! But, during the week, you probably don’t have a few hours to sweat it out over a giant pot. Instead, this is my “go-to” easy weeknight sauce recipe when we are throwing together some pasta but want to do more than throw on a jar of sauce (and for the record, no shame in a jar!). You can also serve this with my easy homemade meatball recipe!
Highlights
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Make Ahead? Yes
Freezer Friendly? Yes
Substitutions? You can omit the garlic if preferred, just be sure to amp up the rest of the herbs
Ingredients List
- 1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes or ~12 oz tomatoes on the vine (e.g., FlavorBomb Cherry tomatoes), washed and halved (quartered for larger tomatoes)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon oregano (other other Italian herb blend)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
(optional) A few spoonfuls of jarred sauce or reserved pasta water
(optional) fresh basil or dried parsley
Recipe: Pasta Sauce (made easy!)
- In a high-sided sauce pan or medium sized pot, heat olive oil. Once warm, add garlic, oregano, and tomato paste. Let lightly brown for about 3 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, stir to blend, using a wooden spoon to squish up the tomatoes a bit. Let simmer, covered, for ~15 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep breaking up the tomatoes.
- Add heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
- If you want to loosen it up a little, add a few spoonfuls of jarred sauce or reserved pasta water to make a more “saucey” texture.
- Toss in fresh basil or dried parsley if you have it on hand! Enjoy!
Family Tips
- You can remove the garlic if you prefer, just make sure you add additional herbs to create some flavor!
- If you don’t have tomato paste on hand, it will still turn out just fine! You may just need extra pasta water, a little jarred sauce, or cream to make sure you have enough juices to make it cover the pasta.
- You can freeze this sauce but I recommend using at least some of it the same evening so you can enjoy it!
- Serve with some fresh bread to round out the meal (plus it is supper yummy for dunking!)
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