Tomato and Garlic Pasta Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

You are less than 30 minutes away from the most delightful tomato and garlic pasta you’ve ever tasted! Fresh, ripe grape tomatoes combine with butter, garlic, white wine and a splash of heavy cream to create the lightest, creamiest pasta sauce you’ve ever tasted.

Top it with creamy burrata and pair with a simple green salad and dinner is done!

How to make tomato & garlic bucatini with burrata and basil:

Pour yourself a glass of wine and prep your ingredients ahead of time because once you get started, this recipe moves quickly! Which means you’ll have dinner on the table in no time!

Melt butter and olive oil over medium low heat. Add garlic and oregano.

Cook for about 30 seconds, stirring frequently.

Add tomatoes along with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in heavy cream.

Season to taste, then toss with cooked pasta.

Garnish with fresh basil and burrata.

Why you’re going to love this tomato and garlic pasta:

• It’s SO simple! 10 ingredients is all it takes to throw together this date night or family dinner favorite. The flavors are classic, straight forward and universally enjoyed by many!
• It’s quick and easy! You could even boil the noodles a day ahead of time and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to make dinner which would make this about a 15 minute dinner!
• If you have picky eaters in your family who maybe don’t love raw tomatoes (myself included) this recipe is a great way for them to try a freshly cooked tomato. And the grape tomatoes are large enough that they can pick them out if they prefer! They can still enjoy the flavor of simmered tomato and garlic that lightly coats every strand of bucatini!

Burrata Basics:

If you’ve never heard of burrata, you are not alone. It’s one of those things where once you know, YOU KNOW. Basically burrata the best thing on Earth, in my personal opinion.

It’s a round pouch of fresh mozzarella cheese filled with shredded fresh mozzarella soaked in heavy cream. Like, how did anyone ever even dream up such an amazingly wonderful creation?

Once you try burrata, you’ll basically spend the rest of your life trying to figure out what else you can put burrata on. And the good news is, you can put it on just about anything! It’s divine on this fall harvest pizza. And I love to garnish my roasted tomato soup with it.

Where to find burrata:

Most grocery stores carry burrata but once in a while, I’ll come across one that doesn’t. You can substitute regular fresh mozzarella and the flavor will be similar, just a little less decadent. I’ve also seen burrata with black truffles and that is very tasty too!

Tips for making the best tomato and garlic pasta:

• Boil your pasta JUST until al dente. I usually boil it for about 1 minute less than the lowest recommended cooking time. So if it says boil 9-11 minutes, I usually taste it at 8 minutes and strain the noodles then. They’re going to cook just a bit more once tossed with the sauce so this will prevent them from getting mushy.
• Toss your cooked pasta in olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. This is going to prevent it from sticking together and making it real easy to slather it in the tomato and garlic sauce at the end. Also, no need to rinse the pasta at all!
• Be sure to keep stirring after you’ve added the garlic so that it doesn’t burn! The butter, oil and white wine are going to do a good job coating the garlic, which will keep it from burning also. But make sure that you are stirring the garlic and tomatoes every couple minutes while they simmer so that a rouge piece of garlic doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.
• Work over medium or medium low heat for this recipe. It can be tempting to crank the heat and get things moving (especially when you have to simmer something for 8 minutes). But DON’T! As mentioned above the garlic can burn easily so it’s important to heat it low and slow. Patience is a virtue and it will come in handy for this recipe!

Frequently asked questions:

• What kind of white wine should I use?
  • The drier, the better! No moscato or dessert wine or anything sweet.
  • You want to use a sauvignon blanc or a pinto grigio. Something that’s mellow but on the dry side.
  • The dish won’t taste like wine when it’s finished so don’t worry if you’re not much of a wine drinker or don’t enjoy the flavor of wine.
• Can I use minced garlic from a jar?
  • Oh dear lord, NO. NEVER. In fact, never buy garlic in a jar!
  • It takes 2 minutes to mince and the flavor of jarred garlic does not even compare to that of fresh chopped.
• Can I use another kind of tomato?
  • I do find that grape tomatoes work best for this recipe, but cherry tomatoes and possibly even roughly chopped roma tomatoes would work great also.
  • The grape tomatoes are the perfect size so that you can twirl a little bit of bucatini, scoop a little creamy burrata and fork a tomato all in one bite!
  • No matter what tomato you use, I’d really recommend using fresh tomatoes; canned just won’t be the same.
• Can I use any kind of pasta?
  • I find that for this recipe long cuts of pasta work best.
  • Spaghetti, vermicelli, linguine and fettuccine are all great options if you can’t find bucatini.
  • Short cuts of pasta like penne, rotini or fussili will also work in a pinch, but the light sauce works best with a longer cut.
• Do leftovers reheat easily?
  • Yes! This bucatini re-heats beautifully, making it a meal prep lover’s dream!
  • Add a splash of cream before heating and I’d also suggest adding fresh basil just before serving!

Other pasta favorites your family will love:

• One Pot Mushroom Stroganoff
• Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese
• One Pot Mac and Cheese
• Lemon & Garlic One Pot Pasta
• One Pot Sausage & Tomato Rigatoni
• 10 Minute Vegetarian Lasagna

• 

Print

This post was originally published in May of 2018. It was updated in July of 2019 to include process shots, step-by-step instructions and tips for making the best tomato and garlic pasta every single time!