This Pomodoro Sauce Recipe is deliciously creamy and zesty. Made in under 20 minutes, you can have a homemade pasta sauce ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta. It is incredibly tasty and satisfying!
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What you’ll love about this recipe:
- READER FAVORITE – This has been a reader favorite for many years and one commenter on social media even compared it to her favorite Italian restaurant!
- EASY – Skip the jarred pasta sauce! This pomodoro sauce recipe is simple to make. And it is so much better when homemade!
- DELICIOUS – This version is one of my favorite easy to make pasta sauces. Cooked with real ingredients and made creamy with a bit of heavy cream and fresh shredded parmigiano cheese.
What is the Difference Between Pomodoro vs Marinara?
The main differences are in the texture of the sauce. A pomodoro sauce is usually thicker and a bit smoother.
And a marinara is thinner, a bit more runny, and chunkier.
The texture of this pomodoro sauce is creamy and smooth. Almost velvety. The tomatoes are cooked whole so there is a bit of a chunky element to the sauce.
Ingredients
- olive oil extra virgin – use a good quality option if you can.
- fresh garlic cloves
- onion
- tomato paste
- salt
- Italian seasoning
- mini heirloom tomatoes – can substitute with cherry or grape tomatoes depending on availability.
- parmesan cheese – freshly shredded
- heavy cream
- pasta – choose your favorite. Penne, spaghetti, bucatini are a few of our favorites for this dish!
Instructions
With a few simple ingredients, dinner can be on the table in about 20 minutes! This sauce comes together pretty quickly. I recommend prepping all ingredients so they’re ready to go.
Here’s the quick step by the step to making this recipe. See below for the complete recipe.
- Start with sautéing the onion and garlic in heated olive oil.
- Cook until translucent.
- Mix in the tomato paste.
- Add the salt & Italian seasoning.
- Add the fresh mini tomatoes (whole). Cook until soft.
Stir in the freshly grated parmigiano cheese & heavy cream.
Serve over your favorite pasta.
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Creamy Pomodoro Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 onion medium, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon italian seasoning
- 2 cups heriloom tomatoes see note
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese freshly shredded
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 pound pasta cooked & drained
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring pasta water to a boil and cook according to package instructions. Don’t forget to salt the water.
- In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium heat. Chop up the garlic and onion, finely and evenly. Add to the olive oil and cook until soft and translucent
- When the onions are cooked, stir in the tomato paste, salt, and Amore seasoning. Combine the tomato paste well. However, it is normal for it to look like it is separated from the oil.
- Add the whole mini tomatoes and cook until they become soft. Once soft, use the back of a wooden spoon and gently press on the tomatoes.
- Stir in the parmigiano cheese to slightly melt. Then stir in the heavy cream.
- Allow all of the ingredients to simmer for about 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Serve over cooked pasta. I used penne for this recipe but any works well.
Robin V says
Made this with a few tweaks just for lack of available ingredients in my pantry at the time.. but, still turned out to be SO GOOD. I just didn’t have the Amore seasoning (just threw together a DIY Italian seasoning) and all I had was grape tomatoes.
Mary Beth says
Thank you so much for sharing, Robin! I am really glad that you enjoyed this recipe! 😀
Sarah says
This was AMAZING! Made it exactly as called for except I just used the Italian seasoning I had on hand.. but SO good, my house smelled like an Italian restaurant!
Mary Beth says
So glad you enjoyed it, Sarah! Thank you so much for sharing!