The pan-roasting method for making cherry tomato sauce is quick and easy. The zingy acidity of the plump cherry tomatoes means the sauce can reach full flavor in no time at all. This company worthy sauce is sweet from the tomatoes and pungent from the garlic and herbs.
Another quick and easy tomato sauce that's delicious is one we've made by roasting grape tomatoes and garlic.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- quick and easy to make.
- uses up your abundance of juicy ripened cherry tomatoes.
- freezes well for later use.
- can easily be made into a yummy meat sauce by adding your favorite chicken or Italian sausage.
If you have a lot of cherry tomatoes like we do you've probably run out of ways to use them. The roasted cherry tomato sauce is certainly a delicious solution to the plethora of tomatoes.
🛒 Ingredients
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Here is a grocery list of the ingredients you'll need to make the tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes over pasta.
- 1 pound dried pasta - we used shells
- extra-virgin olive oil
- fresh garlic
- red pepper flakes
- cherry tomatoes
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- fresh oregano
- dried thyme
- fresh basil leaves
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a 10 or 11-inch large sauté pan or cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-low heat.
- Stir occasionally until the garlic is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes and sauté for about 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme.
- Toss the tomatoes gently to coat with the olive oil and seasoning then raise the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat to maintain a lively but not too vigorous simmer.
- When the tomatoes reduce to a thick pulpy sauce, 15 to 20 minutes, sprinkle in the basil and stir to combine completely.
- Serve your roasted cherry tomato pasta sauce with a grated Parmesan Cheese. Delizioso!
It's now ready to serve over your favorite pasta!
🔪 Equipment
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- knife - I like my ceramic knife that is as sharp as a razor. In fact we like it so much we take it with us when we travel.
- cutting board
- large sauté pan or cast iron skillet
- wooden spoon for stirring
- pasta pot
These items make cooking a lot easier but you don't have to have to them to make this squisito (delicious) sauce.
🥫Storage
You can keep the extra sauce in the refrigerator for a week and the extra may be frozen in freezer containers or freezer bags.
In the dead of winter, you'll really miss your cherry tomatoes and that burst of flavor. This is when you'll appreciate having had the foresight to make extra sauce and freezing it.
👩🏻🍳Tips
A trick to saving space in your freezer is to freeze the sauce in heavy duty freezer bags and lay them flat.
Make sure the air is out of the bag and then layer the bags on a baking tray and place in the freezer. Once the sauce is frozen, the bags are easy to stack.
Double and triple the sauce when you make it, believe me you'll thank me later.
The pasta we like to serve with this sauce is the shell type which will capture the juicy tomatoes in their nooks and crannies. So good and no tomato sauce on your lap.
🤔 FAQ's
These are the questions that are the most frequently asked.
The sauce is delightful. So fresh and sweet the flavors burst in your mouth.
All you need to do is put them in a large sauté pan and wait for the tomatoes to break down and release their liquid. A bit of olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs of your choice, salt, and pepper is all that's necessary tp make one of the best tomato sauces you've ever tasted.
Yes. Once you cook the sauce and it cools, spoon it in to freezer containers or heavy duty freezer bags. The sauce will be good for at least 3 months.
Yes. Cherry tomatoes are miniature versions of traditional beefsteak tomatoes, but they are equally as nutritious.
The most obvious is the shape. The grape tomato is longer and oval whereas the cherry tomato will be round like a globe.
Yes. Meaty red Romas make a wonderful sauce, but it takes cooking them a long time in order for them to reach an optimum flavored sauce.
🍽 Serve with . . .
Don't limit this cherry tomato sauce to just pasta, it's tasty over
- sausages
- fish
- pork chops
- eggs
- chicken
- use it as a topping for pizza
- baked potatoes
- zucchini boats
- eggplant
Cherry tomatoes are so handy to have around. You can make countless dishes with them. We've sautéed them with spinach.
We've used them in the fresh lemon, rotini and grape tomato recipe -- after all they're about as sweet as the grape tomatoes. We've nibbled on them like grapes and eaten them in salads.
One of the most obvious and colorful ways we've use them is on top of our Focaccia Pugliese.
Isn't it handy that you can make a quick and easy pasta sauce and use up two pounds of cherry tomatoes?
📝Recipe
If you love this recipe, pleas give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce with Basil
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried orecchiette { or your preferred pasta} cook until al dente
- 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds cherry tomatoes rinsed and halved
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt; more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves from about one small bunch very thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a 10- or 11-inch saute pan, heat the oil and garlic over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes and saute for about 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper, oregano and thyme. Toss gently to coat and then raise the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat to maintain a lively but not too vigorous simmer, until the tomatoes have been reduced to a thick, pulpy sauce, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle on the basil and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Toss the pasta with three-quarters of the sauce and spoon the remaining sauce over each of the servings. If you like, sprinkle with cheese like a Parmesan, Romano or Pecorino -- whatever you like.
Notes
Nutrition
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. PromiseOriginally published September 14, 2014. Updated with new content and photographs to improve reader experience on August 1, 20121.
