Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

I’m not a boastful person. In fact, if you’ve heard the term “imposter syndrome,” you’ve got a basic idea of the way I approach my skills and accomplishments.

Despite that, I have no problem saying this is the best pasta sauce I have ever made. It’s rich, creamy, silky, and has just the right touch of heat. Pair this with some homemade pasta and you’ll have your friends and family thinking you attended a semester at ICE (that’s short for the “Institute of Culinary Education,” for those of you who don’t spend all their free time obsessing over whether or not they should’ve gone to culinary school).

A pasta sauce that will change your life. Probably.

Let’s get straight to it.

Grocery list:

• 3/4 of a tube of double-concentrated tomato paste (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 stems of fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 4–5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• Pasta water (you can either cook your pasta at the same time as the sauce, which I recommend, or you can make it earlier and reserve about 1/2 a cup of the cooking water)
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes (or more, or less, depending on your spice threshold)
• A pinch of sugar
• Salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Add olive oil, garlic, and basil stems to a cold pan. Turn heat to medium and sauté until fragrant, about 1–2 minutes.
2. Add tomato paste and continue cooking over medium heat, until the tomato paste slightly darkens in color.
3. Whisk in heavy cream and parmesan until combined. Adjust heat to medium low to avoid splatter.
4. Add red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Add a pinch of sugar (just a bit — this will help cut the acidity of the tomato paste).
5. Add 2–3 tablespoons of pasta water.
6. Taste your sauce! Adjust the seasoning and parm levels until it’s to your liking. Fish out the basil stems.
7. Add a knob of butter; about a tablespoon. Stir until melted and combined.
8. Toss with pasta that is about 2 minutes short of being cooked, and let the pasta continue to cook in the sauce until al dente.
9. Serve with a garnish of parm, black pepper, and basil.

Notes:

• I like adding my oil, garlic, and basil to a cold pan because I believe it allows the flavors to really permeate the oil. It adds a deeper garlic and basil flavor to the sauce that makes it a bit more complex. Just be careful not to the burn the garlic because that will be a bad time.
• THE BASIL MUST BE FRESH. No exceptions.
• You can use regular tomato paste instead of double-concentrated if that’s all you have. But if you can find it, the double-concentrated stuff has a richer flavor. My local Trader Joe’s usually has it, and I buy 2 or 3 tubes when I see they’re in stock.
• I know what you’re thinking, and yes, this is basically vodka sauce. This sauce was born out of wanting to make vodka sauce and not having vodka; plus a few twists and additions of my own. But if vodka sauce is what you’re really craving, look up Gigi Hadid’s recipe. It’s pretty bomb.
• If onions are your jive, feel free to chop up about 1/4 a cup and add that with the oil before you add the garlic and basil. Let the onions get transparent and a little brown, then proceed with step 1.
• Pasta water has become a pretty popular ingredient these days, but in case you missed the memo, here’s why: During the boiling process, your pasta will release starch into the cooking water. When you add this to your sauce, it creates an emulsion that makes it glossy and clingy (to your noodles, not your boyfriend).

This is one of those sauces that will have people asking for it again and again. Proceed with caution.