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Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce with Garlic in a large skillet.
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4.81 from 21 votes

Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce with Basil

Cherry Tomatoes make a quick and easy sauce full of zingy flavor, just toss in a skillet with garlic, olive oil and your choice of herbs and you're done.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: pasta sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 562kcal

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

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.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 562kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 622mg | Potassium: 783mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1600IU | Vitamin C: 54.3mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 3.6mg