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One-Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta

A one-dish twenty-minute dinner with delicious flavor.

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When it comes to whipping up dinner on the fly, one-pot pasta is a little bit of a miracle worker. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a process where you dump all of your ingredients – uncooked pasta included – into a pot, and let everything cook together at the same time. Since the pasta cooks in its own sauce, every bite is permeated with flavor, and this One Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta proves what a winning method it is once again. Chewy pasta in a tomato sauce accented by classic Italian herbs and made creamy with a few special additions, it’s an ideal twenty-minute meal.

Some one-pot pastas are really just a dump and stir operation, but this one takes a little more care in developing depth of flavor by starting with sauteeing some onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic in olive oil.

Once those have softened, you stir in some tomato paste, thyme, oregano, and let it cook just about a minute before you stir in some chicken broth (water works fine too), crushed tomatoes, and the pasta. That’s triple tomatoes – sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes – so you can be sure this has plenty of tomato flavor.

But that’s not all the flavor it has. Once everything has simmered long enough for the pasta to become al dente, you remove it from the heat and stir in some cream cheese and Parmesan until they’ve melted and transformed the sauce into a velvety, creamy one.

While any meal that comes together in twenty minutes might seem ideal, this one really has everything you could want – incredibly easy preparation and delicious flavor that the whole family is always happy to tuck into.

Yield(s): Serves 4

5m prep time

15m cook time

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Rated 5.0 out of 5
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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 3 cups chicken broth or water
  • 1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes
  • 12 oz uncooked short pasta, such as farfalle, penne, fusilli, etc
  • 1/3 cup cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Fresh basil leaves, torn, for serving (optional)
Preparation
  1. Add the oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add onion and sun-dried tomatoes and cook until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
  2. Stir in tomato paste, thyme, and oregano and cook 1 minute.
  3. Add chicken broth and crushed tomatoes to pot and a generous pinch of salt.
  4. Bring to a boil, stir in pasta, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until pasta is al dente, 10-15 minutes, adding extra broth or water if needed.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in cream cheese and Parmesan until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let pasta rest and thicken a few minutes before serving.
  6. Serve with fresh basil, if using, and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Savory Nothings.