30 Minute Pasta Pomodoro

5 from 1 vote

This 30 Minute Pasta Pomodoro is simple, delicious, and comes together in no time at all. It can easily be made vegan or gluten-free.

Prep Time3

Cook Time24

Total Time27

Servings:

4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed (literally, just smash each peeled clove open with your knife)
4 Tbsp olive oil
16 oz grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ½ tsp sea salt
10 basil leaves, (or substitute 2-3 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced)
1 cup pasta water, reserved
1 Tbsp brown sugar

In a dutch oven or large skillet, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil for about a minute over medium heat. Add all of the smashed garlic, and cook for 3 minutes.

Now add 1 tsp of the sea salt and all of the tomatoes. Stir to incorporate the tomatoes into the oil and garlic, then turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook for 9 minutes. The tomatoes will release all of their juices and really cook down. Stir occasionally. After 5 minutes, turn the heat down to low.

After you add your tomatoes to the pan with the garlic, it's a good time to start boiling water with the ½ Tbsp of sea salt in a separate, large pot to cook the spaghetti in.
Cook the spaghetti in the salted boiling water until it's mostly cooked through, but still not cooked through enough to eat. For ¾ pound of spaghetti, this will be around the 8-9 minute mark.

Now back to the pot with the pomodoro sauce. After your tomatoes have cooked down for 9 minutes, add the basil leaves (or minced parsley) right on top, followed by the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Stir, and cook on low for 3 minutes, until the basil leaves wilt and turn a bright forest green. Turn off the heat.

Carefully pour the tomato mixture into your food processor. It will be hot. Pulse 10 times, then remove the lid of the food processor and scrape down the sides.
Pulse 10 more times, and that's it; we don’t want a smooth sauce. Texture is good, the tomatoes should be the size of medium-small chunks, and the basil should be large flecks.
Once the tomatoes are to this texture and size, pour the mixture back into the pan you cooked the tomatoes in. Add in the remaining ½ tsp sea salt, followed by the brown sugar. Stir to combine.

Your pomodoro sauce should be back in its pot at about the same time your spaghetti reaches its mostly cooked point.
Turn the heat on to medium under the pomodoro sauce, and turn off the heat under the spaghetti. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the spaghetti, and transfer it to the pan with the pomodoro sauce.
Keeping the heat on medium, use your kitchen tongs or a serving spoon and fork to toss the spaghetti and the sauce together.
Now add the 1 cup of reserved pasta water to the pan with the pomodoro sauce and spaghetti. Use your tongs to incorporate this pasta water into the sauce and the spaghetti. Continue tossing like this for about 3 minutes, until the spaghetti is cooked to al dente.

Turn off the heat, add the butter and ¼ cup Parmesan, and toss with the tongs. Add another ¼ cup Parmesan, and continue to toss until the butter has melted and incorporated into the rest of the dish.
Top the dish with the remaining Parmesan, and serve. You can also reserve the remaining Parmesan to top each individual serving. Serve with a side of dark red kidney beans and my Kale Salad.

This pasta is vegetarian.

This pasta can be vegan if you omit the Parmesan and the butter.

This pasta can be gluten-free if you use gluten-free pasta.

Serve this pasta pomodoro with my kale salad.