Creamy Tomato Rigatoni
Rigatoni in a deeply savoury tomato sauce enriched with mascarpone, built on caramelised tomato paste rather than cream alone.
Most creamy tomato pasta tastes flat because the cream is doing all the work. This one gets its depth from three tablespoons of tomato paste cooked until it darkens and sticks to the pan, which takes four unglamorous minutes and changes the whole dish. The mascarpone goes in at the end, off the heat, where it rounds the acidity without muting it. Rigatoni is the right shape because the ridges and the wide tube both hold sauce.
Watch
Video coming soon
How to make Creamy Tomato Rigatoni
Ingredients
Quantities scale automatically. Cooking times stay the same.
For the sauce
For the pasta and finish
Equipment
- Large pot
- Wide deep skillet or saute pan
- Colander
- Wooden spoon
Method
-
1
Start the pasta water
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it until it tastes like a mild broth. Do not cook the pasta yet; the sauce needs a head start.
-
2
Soften the aromatics
Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over medium. Cook the onion with a pinch of salt for 6-8 minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured, then add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook 1 minute more.
-
3
Caramelise the tomato paste
Add the tomato paste and stir it constantly for 3-4 minutes. It will darken from bright red to brick and start to stick to the base of the pan. That stuck layer is the flavour; do not rush this step and do not let it burn black.
-
4
Simmer the sauce
Tip in the crushed tomatoes with the salt, scraping the base to lift everything up. Simmer gently for 12-15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the oil separates slightly at the edges. Taste and add the sugar only if it needs it.
-
5
Cook the rigatoni
Boil the rigatoni for 1 minute less than the package says, so it still has bite. Reserve two mugs of pasta water before draining.
-
6
Bring it together
Pull the sauce off the heat and stir in the mascarpone until smooth. Add the drained pasta and the parmesan, then splash in pasta water a little at a time, tossing hard, until the sauce turns glossy and clings to every tube. Fold through the basil, grind over black pepper and serve at once.
Cook’s tips
- Crush the whole tomatoes by hand rather than buying them chopped. Chopped tomatoes are packed with added calcium chloride, which keeps the pieces firm and stops them breaking into a smooth sauce.
- Take the mascarpone out of the fridge when you start cooking. Cold cheese hitting a hot pan is what makes creamy sauces split.
- Reserve far more pasta water than you think you need. The rigatoni keeps drinking liquid as it sits, so the sauce should look slightly loose in the pan.
Variations
- Add a splash of vodka with the tomato paste and cook it off for a rosa-style sauce.
- Stir a ball of torn mozzarella through at the end and let it melt into strands.
- Fry 4 oz of pancetta before the onion and use the rendered fat in place of the olive oil.
Storage and make-ahead
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat in a pan over low heat with a good splash of water, tossing until the sauce loosens again. The microwave tends to break the mascarpone and leave the pasta oily.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 624 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 79 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Fibre | 6 g |
| Sugar | 11 g |
| Sodium | 690 mg |
Nutrition is estimated from ingredient averages and will vary with brands and portioning.
