Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna
Tomato sauce enriched with cream — comfort weeknight bowl, no parm needed.
Ingredients
- 200 g Pasta
- 400 g Canned tomatoes
- 100 ml Heavy cream
- ½ Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 30 g Butter
- 1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- 1 tsp Dried oregano (optional)
Method
- Bring salted water to the boil.
- Finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Soften the onion in butter and oil over medium for 5 minutes. Add garlic for the last minute.
- Add the tomatoes, oregano, and a pinch of salt. Simmer for 8 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and let it warm through for 2 minutes.
- Cook pasta one minute shy of al dente (firm to the bite).
- Reserve a mugful of pasta water, then drain.
- Toss the pasta with the sauce, loosening with pasta water until glossy. Finish with black pepper.
- Serve at once.
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About Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna
Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna is Italian comfort cooking at its most honest—canned tomatoes simmered down and enriched with cream until the acidity softens and the sauce becomes velvety. The beauty of this dish is what it removes rather than adds: no parm needed, no meat required, just tomato, cream, onion, and garlic built into a sauce that tastes like it's been on the stove for hours when it's barely been started. The butter and oil create a silky base that carries the tomato flavor cleanly without any grittiness.
Twenty-five minutes and you have something that tastes like Sunday dinner but fits a weeknight. The cream here isn't a luxury—it's essential, tempering the tomato's acid and creating a sauce with body rather than broth. This is where canned tomatoes shine: they're already concentrated, so the brief simmer is enough to marry the flavors. The dish works because nothing distracts from the tomato-cream relationship; if you add meat or too much cheese, you lose what makes it special. Finish with black pepper and serve warm, the kind of bowl you sit with and linger over.
Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna?
A serving has about 812 calories — 17.9g protein, 96.8g carbs, 39.3g fat, 8.9g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Pasta. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Heavy cream, Butter. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
Do I need every ingredient to make Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out dried oregano — it's optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Pasta al Pomodoro e Panna make?
This recipe makes 2 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.