Pasta With Fresh Tomato Sauce and Ricotta

By David Tanis

Updated Aug. 24, 2022

Pasta With Fresh Tomato Sauce and Ricotta
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(2,450)
Comments
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This wonderful pasta is made with nothing more than fresh tomato sauce and good ricotta, plus a little pecorino. It’s most delicious if you keep the pasta quite al dente; use just enough sauce, no more; give it a good pinch of crushed red pepper; and season it with enough salt of course.

Featured in: The Time Is Right to Make Tomato Sauce

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1pound dried pasta, such as farfalle or penne
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2tablespoons butter, softened
  • Crushed red pepper (optional)
  • 2½ cups Quick Fresh Tomato Sauce, warm (see recipe)
  • 6ounces ultra-fresh ricotta, at room temperature
  • Grated pecorino
  • Basil leaves, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted water, making sure to keep it quite al dente.

  2. Step 2

    Put butter in a wide deep skillet over medium heat. Add drained pasta to the pan and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, if using.

  3. Step 3

    Add tomato sauce gradually and stir to coat pasta, using only enough sauce for a light coating (you may not need the entire 2½ cups).

  4. Step 4

    Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl and dot top with spoonfuls of ricotta. Sprinkle lightly with pecorino and garnish with a few torn basil leaves.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
2,450 user ratings
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Comments

Sue Llewellyn

The sauce is splendid, as is the whole dish. Until I read some of the comments below, however, I had NO idea "we" were supposed to frown on farfalle/bowties--or that they had the remotest connection to Betty Crocker recipes! Oddio--where will our snobbery take us next?!

Rami

Love pasta and stopped making it a couple of years ago to cut down on white carbs. Did not like whole wheat at all. Few months ago discovered brown rice and quinoa pasta at Trader Joe's. Back to loving and eating a favorite food! It's delicious...

Kate

Oh, Brian, you've been missing out if you're not using bow ties. The Silver Spoon pasta book has a whole chapter for them, Marcella Hazan used them, a favorite (Italian) pasta cookbook I bought in Florence has 5 recipes for them (with lemon, with mushrooms and cheese, with scallops and asparagus) and hey, what's wrong with Betty Crocker anyway. I love how the bows capture the sauce plus the little knob in the center of the bow always stays just a bit more al dente and chewy.

Katie

Huge hit with the whole family! My picky 5 year old said it was the best dinner ever. We used small pasta shells because that was all we had.

jay4wine

So good!! Subbed angel hair and burrata because that’s what we had. The recipe is simple and rich and oh so delicious!! Definitely in the best of category.

Alix

Great dish. Thought I would be reducing these tomatoes all night but found that I could cook rigatoni about 8 minutes and then ladle into large skillet with melted butter, added spoonfuls of thin sauce which reduced as it cooked rest of pasta. Came out creamy with cheeses. Delicious

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