This is such a simple and elegant tomato sauce and it’s uses are endless, however you definitely can’t go wrong drowning some pasta in it, especially gnocchi. The reason I love using gnocchi with this sauce is because it’s easy to use a spoon as a serving vessel, which means you have a legitimate excuse to eat this like a freakin soup! I use cherry tomatoes as opposed to a Roma or larger Beefsteak because of the sweetness that’s produced when they pop from the heat. The other thing I love about using cherry tomatoes is they produce a gorgeous color to this sauce, and you can easily make it more yellow, orange or red depending on the variety of cherry tomato that you use.
This is literally 4 ingredients tossed into some olive oil in a pot, a little salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and about 30 minutes of patience. And while I’m a sucker for making homemade pasta from scratch, this will mask using a package of store bought gnocchi, or any other pasta you want to suffocate it in.
I top with a little grated parmesan and some freshly chopped basil, and you have a high-end pasta dish, you can make at home yourself, for only a few dollars. But shhhh, don’t tell anyone eating it how easy it was.
Cherry Tomato Pomodoro Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 medium shallot chopped
- 2 tbsp basil freshly chopped
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a small saucepan and once shimmering, add chopped shallot and garlic. Sautee for 2 minutes and then add the tomatoes and ¼ cup of olive oil, stirring to coat everything well.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and stir every few 5 minutes or so, for about 30 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes as they pop. Once most of the tomatoes have broken down, add the chopped basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and stir thoroughly.
- Use an immersion blender (or transfer tomato mixture to a blender) and process until smooth. Return back to pot and heat before plating.