Rigatoni with Tomato-Pesto Sauce and Fresh Mozzarella
Pesto-spiked tomato sauce, chewy pasta, creamy cheese – all in the same scrumptious bite. Flavors soar, textures abound, and everything is ready in under 20 minutes.
You need just 4 ingredients for this incredible meal. Tomato sauce (from a carton or can), prepared pesto (refrigerated or shelf-stable), pasta, and mozzarella. Choose what you like, or what’s on sale – you can’t go wrong with this easy, amazing dish.
All the flavor in the sauce comes from ONE ingredient: pesto. Spiking canned tomato sauce with pesto is one of my favorite culinary hacks. Pesto is a creamy blend of fresh basil, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, and pine nuts. It’s rich, vibrant, cheesy, and nutty. Add a spoonful or two to tomato sauce and you instantly have a gourmet sauce at your fingertips. My fridge is never without pesto.
Fresh mozzarella might seem like an indulgence, but it’s really not. When I first started writing recipes (a million years ago), fresh cheeses were nonexistent. At least, not for the average home cook. Now, you can find fresh cheese at virtually every grocery store; and the varieties range in price from “Super affordable and great for a Tuesday”, to “Wow, that’s expensive, let’s get this when we have dinner guests”. Any fresh mozzarella, in any shape, will work in this dish – from the balls, to burrata, to the cheese shaped into logs. That said, If you want to make the dish with regular mozzarella, that’s fine too!
Any pasta shape works too. I chose rigatoni because I love how the little “corduroy” grooves grab the sauce. Choose your favorite pasta shape and make the most amazing meal in minutes…
Rigatoni with Tomato-Pesto Sauce and Fresh Mozzarella
Ingredients
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta, or pasta shape of choice
- 3 cups tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4-6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced or cubed
Equipment
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, whisk together the tomato sauce and pesto. Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- When the pasta has finished cooking, add it to the sauce and heat through. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Transfer the pasta to bowls and top with the mozzarella cheese.