Quick Pesto Pasta With Cherry Tomatoes (4 Ingredients!)

Pesto Pasta With Tomatoes is a quick dish of penne pasta and cherry tomatoes with a basil pesto and pasta water sauce for a fast and fresh pasta.

Course Main

Cuisine Australian, Italian, Modern Australian

Total Time 15

Servings

Calories 257kcal

Cook pasta according to package directions, but don't drain immediately.
375 g penne pasta
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat then add cherry tomatoes.
2 tablespoon olive oil, 500 g cherry tomatoes
Fry tomatoes until they start to break down, allowing their juices to release and brown (not burn) in the base of the pan.
While the pan is still on the heat, add ½ cup (or more if needed) of the pasta cooking water to the pan with tomatoes to deglaze the base - it will sizzle a little.
pasta cooking water
Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked pasta from the pot (don't drain the water) and add it to the tomatoes, stirring to coat.
Transfer pasta to a mixing bowl or serving bowl, then stir in basil pesto to coat. Add a little more pasta water to loosen if needed.
4 tablespoon basil pesto, pasta cooking water
Serve with fresh parmesan cheese.
fresh parmesan to serve

Pasta cooking water - this is the starchy water that is left after you have finished cooking your pasta. I have included it in the ingredients as an extra reminder not to just drain it off and discard it.
Aim to start frying off the tomatoes when the pasta has a few minutes to go in it's cooking time. They won't take long!
As the chopped cherry tomatoes break down, the juice that comes out starts to create a brown (not black) base in the bottom of the pan, this is what we want! In French, this is known as "fond" and that's where the flavour is at! When you add your pasta water to the hot pan it is going to "deglaze" the bottom of the pan (get up all that yummy fond) and become the base of our sauce.
Speaking of sauce, this isn't a really saucy pasta. But the sauce you do get is packed with concentrated tomato flavour and the freshness of basil and garlic. When you add the pasta cooking water to the pan you should have just enough sauce to coat the pasta.
I highly recommend making your own basil pesto for this pesto pasta recipe. You can't beat the fresh flavour hit from homemade pesto in any recipe, but the pesto is the star of this pasta so the more flavour it has the better.

*Please note that the amount of calories per serve is provided as a guide only, as ingredients and cooking methods can vary greatly*