No Cook Tomato Pasta Sauce

This no cook tomato sauce is made with four ingredients and is full of flavour. One of the easiest and most good pastas you can make during summer, and it's ready by the time your pasta is finished cooking!

This pasta is essentially summer in a bowl. It's your go-to when it's too hot to cook and in the height of the summer when tomatoes are at their best.

The sauce is so refreshing and good and made with four simple ingredients: cherry tomatoes (find good quality ripe ones), garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil.

You can eat this warm with freshly cooked pasta, or cool your pasta down and enjoy it cold (suited to taking on a picnic or to the beach).

We love how simple this sauce is and will be making this all summer long. See the recipe below, including some good variations to try. Enjoy!

Ingredient notes

• Cherry tomatoes – the quality of the tomatoes is key, so get good quality, ripe tomatoes, preferably still on the vine. We like to use cherry tomatoes for their sweetness. If you use large tomatoes, such as plum or San Marzano style, the sauce will have a different flavour.
• Parmigiano Reggiano – you can use Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano if you don't have Parmigiano.
• Pasta – We highly recommend using a short pasta shape and one that will catch the sauce. We used casarecce, but fusilli would be another great option.

Recipe tips

• Don't grate your cheese – buy your cheese in a block and break it into chunks. This creates a nice texture in the food processor, which we love.
• Sauce consistency – it should have a saucy consistency with fine pieces of cheese, tomato and herbs (see photo 2).
• Taste for seasoning – once you've blitzed your sauce, add a pinch of salt (we use sea salt flakes), taste it and add more if needed.
• Eat hot or cold – you can serve the pasta warm by transferring your cooked pasta straight to the sauce, or cool down your pasta first and enjoy it cold. This is a great option if you're prepping it ahead of time.

Swaps

Make it spicy – for a spicy kick, add a pinch of dried chilli flakes to taste.

Herbs – swap the basil for fresh parsley or add in some dried oregano.

Nuts – add some pine nuts, almonds or walnuts for added texture.

Pasta salad style – add in some cooked shrimp/prawns, marinated or jarred veggies such as sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers. Grilled or roasted veg (like zucchini and bell peppers), or more cheese, such as fresh mozzarella.

More summer dinner ideas

Pasta

Summer Tuna Pasta Sauce

Pasta

Creamy Zucchini and Stracchino Pasta

Pasta

Paccheri alla Vittorio (Tomato Butter Sauce)

Pasta

Orecchiette alla Positanese (Sausage, Tomato and Burrata)

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings (small portions)

• ½ lb (225g) short pasta ((we used casarecce))
• 14 oz (400g) cherry tomatoes (washed and dried)
• 2 oz (50g) Parmigiano Reggiano (cut into large chunks)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 large handful fresh basil ((about 1 cup))
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Add your pasta and cook until al dente.

2. Add the cherry tomatoes, chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh basil and peeled garlic clove to a food processor and blitz until well combined. You'll have pause half way through and scrape down the sides. The end texture should be saucy with fine pieces of cheese, tomato and basil throughout.

3. Transfer the sauce to a large bowl and add a sprinkling of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Stir to combine. Once cooked, add the drained pasta and stir into the sauce then serve.

Kitchen notes

Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days.