This authentic, super easy, and tasty Penne Pomodoro recipe is perfect for a quick and healthy weeknight meal. Plus, it's ready in under 30 minutes and budget-friendly too!
Salt a large pot of water and bring to a boil over low-medium heat. Once the water starts boiling vigorously, add pasta. Cook the pasta to package directions (al dente consistency, typically 10-11 minutes ). Save 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.Note: You'll be finishing the pasta in the tomato sauce.
While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once hot, add minced garlic cloves and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
Add cherry tomatoes and salt. Cook down for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
Once tomatoes are cooked, blend the sauce to desired consistency. This can be done using an immersion blender, or by transferring to a regular blender. Cool down the tomatoes first if your blender container is not heat-safe. You can also just use a masher or the back of a spoon.
Return the blended sauce to the pan and simmer over low heat. Add the chopped basil leaves.
Once pasta is cooked, transfer with tongs to the sauce and mix to coat. Add a small portion of the cooking water and mix with tongs to form your sauce.
Turn off the heat and add parmesan cheese, and an extra drizzle of olive oil as well as chopped basil leaves. Serve hot.
Notes
Tomatoes: if using fresh tomatoes, pick the very ripe ones, that are soft to the touch but not dark red and mushy. You can also use canned whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano) otherwise.
Choice of cheese: Cheese is optional in this recipe. I use parmesan to give it some nuttiness, but you can substitute with a hard cheese of your choice.