Tomato-Cream Sauce for Pasta

So delicious! I pureed mine in the blender as I prefer smooth creamy sauces, and I added three garlic cloves as I love garlic. I used only half of the onion, and substituted 3/4 cup of skim milk instead of the heavy cream to cut back on calories. The addition of Italian seasoning added an extra zip and zing. Served over fresh cheese ravioli and with a side green salad, it was a fantastic and simple meal. If you double the recipe, you can freeze the remainder of sauce and have on hand for guests or cold nights when you crave comforting pasta dishes. A terrific recipe that I will make again.

Very good! A winner in my book. I substituted fat-free half and half for the cream,cut the butter a little and doubled the garlic. I also used my hand blender and smoothed it a little, so that it wasn't super chunky but still had texture. Hubby loved it. Served it over organic spinach fetuccini with spicy italian sausage sliced on top. Beautiful meal!

This sauce has a great flavor to it--sweet but not cloying. I must concur with other reviewers: the consistency is a bit too thin. I suspect this could be thickened without sacrificing too much flavor by adding flour according to taste. Flour is usually an ingredient in cream sauces, but is absent from this particular recipe. Spices and tomatoes may need to be increased if flour is added, but the sauce should become satisfactorily viscous. I suggest adding flour in small quantities, being cautious not to use too much.

Incredibly good and so easy to make! I doubled the sauce and used half and half instead of cream. The only thing I added to thicken it was a 6 oz. can of tomato paste. I will make this again and again. With recipes like this, there's no need to buy jarred sauces!

This was excellent and easy. I didn't have Italian style tomatoes so I used petite diced and added 1 tsp of Italian seasonings. I only used 1/2 of an onion, otherwise made to recipe. Delicious, served over mini penne pasta and shredded parmesan. Wish I had grilled chicken to go over top. One complaint: this really only made enough for 3 servings, no way 5 unless this was for a side dish. Thank you.

This has become my staple sauce since I first discovered it on this site. I have made it a countless number of times now, both as per recipe for a small scale, and slightly altered for a much larger scale. Regardless, I always use more garlic than called for and always run the whole thing through the blender to smooth the sauce. This is absolutely delicious and always receives rave reviews. Quick, easy, and foolproof - what more could you ask for?

WOW! What a great sauce! So here's what I did...like another member, after cooking tomatoes, onion, garlic and spices in saucepan, I put mixture into blender and pureed. Then I put back into saucepan, stirred in 3/4 cup nonfat milk (in place of heavy cream) and butter. I left out sugar altogether. Didn't need it. I added a small amount of grated parmesan cheese to give it an extra kick. What I got was a sauce that tasted like it was full of fat and calories, but it was actually almost fat free and very healthy! Not to mention, it was EXTREMELY easy to make. Definitely a keeper!

sauteed onions, mushrooms, garlic and red pepper, then added tomatoes, brought to a boil..... Then I pureed the whole thing in blender. My family has yet to know off these added, rarely eaten (by them) veggies........I replaced fat free half-n-half for heavy whipping cream (as I do most things, too much fat & calories for us) and added fresh grated Parmaggiano cheese! The sugar is important (altho I use Splenda) to help take adge off the tomato taste. Was yummy and very creamy!

This was a great sauce for our pasta. I didn't have any Italian diced tomatoes so I just used regular and added italian seasoning. Also, didn't have heavy cream on hand, so I used 3/4 of a cup of whole milk and 1/3 cup of butter. I added red pepper flakes (husband likes it hot) and a little all-purpose flour to thicken and it was wonderful. Will definitely make again!

Ok, I have made this twice now. I still don't love it. It is sweet in a disgusting way, and the texture is weird because of the chunky tomatoes and all the dried basil. Maybe I will spring for fresh next time! I am going to make it again, and try other reviews' suggestions to put it through the blender. I added probably 1.5 T of flour, which really helped thicken it and make it a great consistency, not runny. I like the flavor but must try it with these modifications, and without the sugar...

Super easy, Super yummy! Two thumbs up from hubby :-) The one thing I have to say is remove pan from the heat for at least 5 minutes before adding the cream. The first time I made this, I didn't take it off the heat long enough and the cream curdled when I added it.

This is extremely delicious and easy to make! I decided to add green peppers and more onion, garlic and cream than was mentioned. I also did not use the canned italian style diced tomatoes, but regular tomatoes. You can definitely change it around a bit to fit your taste. I served it over spinach fettuccine alongside fried chicken cutlets and some homemade bread. Everyone loved it! Don't use half and half instead of heavy cream. Some suggested it so I tried it and I was very disappointed!!

Ok everybody don't hate me but one night when I needed something really fast I used a jar of premade sauce and added a dash of sugar, a dash of wine, and the heavy cream! Super quick and super easy!

An excellent base sauce for pasta-especially ravioli. I like to boil my ravioli, then place it in an oven dish and smother with this sauce. Then I top it with asiago, mozzarella, panko and italian breadcrumbs and bake at 400 degrees for about half an hour. Scrumptious!

Very tasty. Added more garlic and used lots of fresh basil instead of dried.

YUM! I love a good cream sauce, but hate the calories that go with them. Lightened this up considerably by using Fat-Free Sour Cream, and skipping the butter and sugar (it doesn't need the sugar). I also sauteed mushrooms to go in it...because...well...mushrooms just HAVE to go in a cream sauce!

Puree the tomatoes, add cream cheese instead of heavy cream... Chicken and fancy cooked pasta... :-)

My husband loved this! The first time I made it I thought it was too sweet, so the second time I added a little more salt and a little less sugar. Pureed in the blender and added shrimp and red pepper flakes.

We modified this recipe just a tad bit by first adding sausage. Then, to make the sauce more "kid friendly," we set some aside for the adults and put the rest in the blender (minus the sausage). The result was a smooth, creamy, rich sauce that was scrumptious.

Good recipe! Doubled sauce. Sautéed garlic, 4 cloves & diced mushrooms. Blended all seasonings & diced tomatoes in blender, then added to the skillet with sautéed items. Only used 1 tblspn butter. Used 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup soft butter & 1 tsp flour to replace heavy cream. Added diced olives and another 1/4 salt to sauce. Also flour as needed to thicken sauce and let simmer. Serve over a light pasta and top with Parmesan cheese.

Definitely my favorite pasta recipe! If you use half and half instead of whipping cream be aware that it is a little sweet (at least the kind that I use) and so it may be best not to add sugar. My boyfriend loves this every time I make it. Thanks for sharing!

Love this recipe! Some changes that I made- were to add chopped baby spinich and shitake mushrooms sliced thinly to the sauce prior to adding the cream. I fry salmon in a seperate pan and break it up then add it to the sauce over penne pasta. Absolutely amazing!

I really enjoyed making this recipe and it turned out wonderful. Instead of canned tomatoes, I used fresh Romas from my garden and also fresh basil and oregano as well as dried. I added garlic powder, onion powder, and used half and half because I didn't have any cream. WILL make again and again! Thanks!

as previously stated, i added parm cheese and the family liked it...would go great in lasagna or on manicotti...tasted even better the following day

I've been trying to duplicate the penne rosa recipe from Noodles and Company chain. This looked similar to there ingredients and I followed the recipe exactly.It wasn't quite what I wanted but a good base for future attempts. Next time I will puree it like several suggested and it was lacking a little kick to me.

Simply delicious. All I added was fresh spinach and cooked italian sausage. Threw it all together with "Quick Gnocchi" from this site (a winner, too), in a casserole and baked it. Fantabulous dinner and leftovers were wonderful, too.

This was pretty good - the only change was that I used plain diced tomatoes instead of italian style since I already had those in the cupboard and I pureed the tomatoes mixture. I found it to be a bit bland so I may play around with the spices a bit next time, but it could also have been because I used plain diced tomatoes.

I made this tonight for dinner and I must say that this is one tasty dish. I double the recipe for the sauce and added 7 cloves of garlic and 1 small sweet onion. Also, I used (1) can of regular diced tomato and (1) can of fire roasted both were Hunts brand. This will be added to weekly rotation for sure.., even my 11 year old picky son said it was good.

I made this recipe as is, and it was sweet. We didn't like that.

This was amazing! Quick and easy enough for me to make in the morning to take to work on my evening shift. I was eating it by the spoonfuls right off the stove! Excellent.

Great recipe, Kimber. I used 1/4 of an onion, 2 cloves garlic, fresh basil and oregano, and added 1/2 cup tomato puree. Threw it all in the blender before returning to heat and adding in the cream and butter... also added 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Served over 4 cheese tortellini, and boy, was it ever good! Thanks.

Awesome! I added 2 extra cloves of garlic and used about 5 fresh basil leaves and I even added a cube of frozen spinach just to get more goodness into the kids! They loved it.

I don't know what to say about this except for the fact that I did not care for it. It wasn't very sauce like, the spice combo was just kinda 'meh' and i didn't find it very creamy. Overall it was bland.

Yum! I did use a little less basil and added parsley. I blended the sauce minus the heavy cream, then returned to the pan, added the cream and let it heat through on low until serving. We had it over whole wheat penne and it was delicious. Thanks! :)

Did three fresh tomatoes and 1 can, 4 cloves of garlic, also smoothed it with an immersion blender. After it was smooth I added chopped red peppers and a few leftover chopped tomatoes for texture and added fresh spinach. Also used fresh basil instead of dry- this was great!

delish! i did do a few changes...i added veggies, mushrooms, baby bells, and kale. i did not have heavy cream, and did not feel like going to the store; so i used about half a cup of low fat sour cream, about half a cup of 1% milk, and about two Tbs of butter. yum, yum, YUM! my son does not usually like red sauces, this one he did!

Very good sauce. Especially when you're not quite feeling red or quite feeling white.

It was just ok.

This was a great starting place or sauce. I followed a few other suggestion:used fat free half an half instead of cream, added extra garlic, ran it through my food processor because I prefer smoother sauce. I also like a little kick so I added red pepper. I also used half diced tomatoes and half tomatoe paste since i dont like chunky sauce. This also made it thicker. MIt was a little too sweet for my tastes, so next time I'd cut that out, but overall a great base and easy to make.

Love It Sooo much!

I love making my own sauce now and again so this was a great recipe to mix things up. Only having whole milk on hand I used that but the rest of the recipe I followed exactly. I didn't thicken it or blend it so it still had a little chunkiness to it. We served it over spaghetti which may have been too light weight of a pasta, but we paired it with sun-dried tomato chicken sausage and sprinkled fresh spinach on top with a little parmesan. Very nice but it could use a little more kick. I will try some of the other reviews' suggestions next time. Thank you!

Easy and tasty. I pureed as other reviewers suggested. Did not need flour as some other reviewers mentioned. Will DEFINITELY be making again!!

I did everything except for the oregano and no sugar. Tastes just as good! Thank you for sharing this recipe! :)

Recipe is simple and tastes great. If you really want to take it to the next level without much effort, add sliced black olives, sliced mushrooms, and capers for authentic Italian flavor. The addition of the previous three ingredients really makes this dish taste shine. :)

My husband said that it tasted like it was from a restaurant....so we'll take that as a good thing. Very easy to make, but turned out a little soupy. I guess next time I'll have to let the liquid reduce longer. I also left out the onions because I didn't have any...I don't think it lacked any flavor without them...as a matter of fact, I don't think that I would have liked it with the onions.

This was wonderful.....I did add 1/4cup more of whipping cream for more sauce ...i also put it in the blender to make it a smooth texture...my child really enjoyed it..since he had no idea that it had onions and tomatoes! you can also sneak in more veggies and the kid will never know!

This was delicious! And it was really quick and easy, plus I made it healthier with a few adjustments. I threw some spinach in after browning the garlic, cooked it for a minute before adding the rest. I also substituted a 10 oz can of tomato sauce (with basil and oregano and garlic) and a 4 oz can of tomato paste for the diced tomatos, since I too like a smoother sauce. I also substituted 1/4 cup fat free milk and 1/4 margarine for the whipping cream and butter. It was amazing! Not too watery, not too sweet.

Excellent sauce!! I put it in the blender before pouring over pasta - since I'm not a big tomato fan, that really improved the texture & whole experience for me. Highly recommended!

I thought this recipe was pretty good. I added about half the cream to make the pasta a bit less 'saucy' and added mushrooms and chicken. Its great if you are looking for a simple tasty meal

This is a great sauce! It's always a hit when I serve it to people. I always blend it in the blender after it's done to smooth it out and I usually use Italian style stewed tomatoes and extra garlic cloves.

This recipe gets 4 stars because it is a little bland as is. It is a great starting place. I sauted hamburger meat in the olive oil, onion and (2 cloves) garlic. Then added addional 1 tsp italian seasoning. I also used brown sugar per another review, and half & half bc that is what I had. It will be watery at first. Let the juices simmer off before you add the dairy. It will thicken on its own.

I really liked this recipe. I made it with beef stuffed ravioli. The only thing I did differently was using the food processor to make it a smooth sauce, as others suggested and added a bit of flour to thicken in up. I can't wait to try it with other kinds of pasta. It was a really easy dish to make with ingredients I always have on hand.

This sauce was amazing! I don't know if I will ever buy store-bought sauce again. The sauce is even great before adding the cream. I basically doubled everything but instead of using a second can of diced tomatoes, I used a can of tomato sauce, and I also added a generous splash of red cooking wine.

Hard to believe a sauce this good is so easy. Great flavor. I did add a little anchovy paste and a few flakes of red pepper. I use Stevia instead of sugar. But the recipe needs no changes. Love it over small penne pasta. I think the consistency is perfect when made with cream. This makes for a heavenly vegetarian meal.

This was a quick and tasty pasta sauce. The heavy cream add a nice change from regular red sauce. I topped this with parmesan cheese and leftover sliced grilled sausage.

This was super easy to make and has a good flavor but we did not just love it. I followed the recipe as indicated and served it over penne rigate pasta. We only got 4 servings out of it instead of the indicated 5 servings but it is likely that we used more than what a real serving actually should be. I wonder if it were to simmer a while if the flavors would be richer.

This was really easy and so cheap to make! One recipe makes enough for 8 oz dry pasta, double it for a whole lb. Like others, I pureed my sauce to make it smooth, but is also really good "chunky". I used half and half instead of cream (because that's what I had). This sauce is also awesome as a base for a baked ziti - just sub ricotta for the cream, top with cheese and bake! Here's a tip: if you want to skip the pureeing step but like a smooth sauce, start out with a can of crushed tomatoes instead of diced.

This is a great base for an amazing sauce. I made my own changes such as using twice as much garlic, adding celery with the garlic and onions, as well as adding some red wine and beer into the red sauce. Once I felt it cooked down I used my hand blender to smooth it out then added the butter and half and half instead of heavy cream. To finsih it off I added shavings of parmigiano reggiano. This recipe is a keeper!

I Love this recipes. I use it just like it tells you too. If you have a family of 3 double the recipes because it does not make much.

After making this many times now, I pretty much have this recipe memorized. I generally use the fire-roasted canned tomatoes and add spices to taste, such as omitting the oregano and adding garlic. Like many reviewers, I've subbed half & half for the heavy cream with success. Sometimes I use the immersion blender; sometimes I want a chunkier sauce. This compliments virtually any pasta, although my favorite use for this sauce is for my stuffed bell peppers, which happens to be dinner tonight. Overall, this sauce is fast, simple, and delicious....a winning trifecta!

Pure goodness and simplicity. This sauce came out beautifully Exactly as it was written, with the one exception that I blended it---which is really a matter of personal preference: chunky or smooth. I served my tomato cream over slightly baked hot Italian sausage pieces which I quickly caramelized in a hot pan (we like the crispy edges). Turning down the heat, I added big chunks of green, red, yellow and jalapeno peppers. When the vegetables were cooked to just under crisp, I added the sauce and let everything simmer together for a few minutes. My husband and I cleaned our plates, and there is None of this left in the fridge---all the leftovers were quickly snatched up! This was a winner for my household.

Wow what an easy sauce... i was stumped tonight on what to make and had some chicken raviloli to cook so i pulled this up and made it with what i had... i used 1/2 and 1/2 as i NEVER use heavy cream cus of the calories and I think 1/2 and 1/2 has the same amount of creaminess without all the fat... this was such the perfect last minute dish and the whole family including my picky 12 YO liked this... that deserves a 5* in my book!

Pretty good! I added sauteed mushrooms and a bit more garlic, salt, and sugar. I also pureed it. Next time I'll puree a little less (it wasn't chunky enough), use FRESH herbs, add more veggies (spinach?) and maybe add a bit more cream and/or parmesan cheese. Maybe pureeing in a little cottage cheese would be good:) Overall, great tomato sauce recipe! I suggest doubling it and freezing the left overs.

Yum! My husband and I were pleasantly suprised with this. Tried it for the first time tonight and followed the directions for everything except the butter- omitted it, and the cream- used 2% milk instead. A terrific and deilicious alternative to jar sauce- easy too!

I used an immersion blender for mine because I was looking for a smooth sauce. It kind of had a weird consistency when done cooking, almost like the cream broke in the sauce and looked curdled. I wish I had let the tomato mixture simmer for longer and then added the cream at the very end. But the taste was faaaaantastic. I served it over cheese tortellini, and will make it again.

This is an awesome recipe. I puréed in a blender as recommended by others to have a smoother consistency. I did this just before adding the cream. I used fat free half and half and it worked great. I also upped the garlic.

Absolutely delicious!! Best over penne pasta or cheese-filled ravioli. Even my picky toddler will eat this sauce!

Very Good. My daughter requested it for days after... great for freezing and reheating for quick dinners too!

This sauce is amazing. I used half and half cream instead of the heavy cream and it turned out GREAT!! My husband looked in the pan while I was making it and wasn't too keen on the appearance, once it was on the table in the pasta, well lets just say he ATE HIS WORDS !!

We tried this recipe and absolutely love it!! We used a little milk to balance out the cream, which lightened it up a bit. It has become a family favorite!

This is my favorite tomato sauce recipe. It is very easy, quick, and has a wonderful flavor.

My boyfriend actually found this recipe one night we he cooked to surprise me. This sauce has a lot of flavor is great with ravioli or any pasta you can think of. I am thinking about trying to couple with pork in a chicken parmesan style dish. We shall see... This recipe has become a staple in our house!

This recipe might have been better if it weren't for the onion, maybe just a touch of onion salt or powder instead.

LOVE this sauce. I made this cream sauce tonight, except I used 1 cup of Half & Half in place of the Heavy Cream then I pureed it in a blender and added another .5 cup of Half & Half brought it to a soft boil and served over Gnocchi. OUTSTANDING!!!

this was easy and fabulous! best of all i got to use my fresh basil and oregano that i have been growing. i used 2% evaporated milk in place of the heavy cream, blended it with an immersion blender and added a touch of cornstarch to thicken it up. super delish.

Love it, love it, love it!!!!!!!!!!

This was good, not out of this world. I made it with shrimp.

HE liked it a lot, I didn't. Too soupy, needed more garlic, I sub'd fat free half & half for the cream, and added some grated parm. Not bad, not great, I don't think tweaking would help this much more, but thanks anyway.

This is a winner. Such an easy and rich sauce to make. I loved the addition of cream; in my opinion it really takes it up a notch in flavour -- but I could imagine making it without the cream to save calories and fat. It would still taste good. I added mini-fillets of chicken breast, sugar snap peas and mushrooms. I used a roux of about 2T butter/2T flour so that it would be thick. Shrimp would be good too. We used linguine pasta. It's an easy recipe that tastes as though you worked for hours. It also is easy to adapt to your family's tastes. We will make it again and again.

This was a nice sauce. I used half-and-half, adding it to the blender while I pureed the other ingredients. This made a smoother sauce than the original recipe. Note: If you like generous portions of sauce on your pasta, this actually serves about 3-4.

This is a nice sauce that I served over Trader Joes ravioli. I had some FF half and half that I needed to use up, so I substituted that for the heavy cream. I also sauteed two links of sliced tomato mozzarella basil chicken sausage, and added it to the sauce. I was quite satisfied with this recipe.

Made as written - very good!

Pretty good, but it is still missing something to make it amazing.

Wow! This was incredible!! I added some cheese into the sauce and purred the tomatoes first but Yummy!

Easy and delicious! I sauteed the onion and added crushed jarred garlic for the last minute. I didn't have Italian tomatoes on hand so I used petite regular (no-salt) tomatoes and added extra spices. Had a few tomatoes that were on the way out, so I chopped and added those also. Per a review I read, I transferred the mixture in a couple of batches to my mini-processor, and then added back to the pot. Also added a few tblsps tomato paste, a little white wine and about a tblsp of grated parmesan cheese. I subbed regular half-&-half for the heavy cream but fat-free would have been healthier! Look forward to having over pasta or ravioli! Seems better than store-bought sauce. Thanks Kimber!

Good taste but way too much onion for my families taste. It was a little overwhelming. If I make again, I would cut it down by half. Thanks

Awesome recipe.. Used fresh basil- makes all the difference!

This sauce is fabulous! I used it to make a baked cheese ziti, like Olive Gardens, only this was way better. Thanks

I did like the flavor of the sauce, but the consistency of the sauce wasn't quite what I expected. I tried the sauce with penne rigate pasta, but the sauce wouldn't stick to the paste. I also tried the sauce with angel hair pasta and that tasted much better. I will make this pasta again because the sauce doesn't taste like other sauces that I have tired. It will add variety.

very good and easy....i think i will add some more stuff to it, possibly mushrooms and maybe some more spices

Sadly, just ok. I really wanted to like this but the spices just weren't right. I'll keep looking for a keeper recipe.

Delicious and fresh taste! I'm serving it with gnocchi. I pureed all the ingredients in the blender and cooked for a few minutes until the garlic and onion were no longer raw.

This is a very adaptable recipe, which I like: I didn't have any onion, so I amped the flavor with extra garlic (three cloves), which I sauteed before adding one can of regular, no added salt, diced tomatoes. For seasoning I added 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Instead of heavy creaming, I used half-and-half, since that's what I had on hand. The sauce was a little thin, but very delicious! I look forward to making it with the cream next time, but the seasonings were just right for us. I served it with whole wheat cheese ravioli, with Italian cut green beans on the side. Yum!

This is a favorite recipe. I use half the onion, and no sugar, and I add about 1/2 tblsp. of red pepper flakes to the sauce. I also top this with feta cheese at the end and serve with breaded chicken.

This is a winner! So easy and yummy! I didn't have canned tomatoes so I used fresh grape tomatoes instead (their skins aren't tough like cherry tomatoes). I squashed them a bit once they were in the pan and then let them melt down while the sauce simmered. It worked really well! I also didn't have heavy cream so I once again used what I had; some skim milk and a tablespoon of sour cream. The sour cream added some nice tang. I also added some dried italian seasoning and doubled the fresh garlic. A few fresh basil leaves on top finished this off nicely. Will make this again! Thanks!

Very Good. Thanks!

Great recipe! My family loved it. I added some grated carrots, and increased the sugar to 1 tbls. I didn't add the butter because to my surprise I didn't have any but it still tasted great. Higly recommend this sauce. Thanks.

This was easy and delicious! It was a tad bit sweet, so I think I'll leave out the sugar next time. I also used fresh oregano and basil. (I added the basil at the very end.) I smoothed it slightly with an immersion blender. My husband thought it was awesome. Thanks!

Delicious, easy! I made it with skim milk for lower fat and b/c I had no cream (probably not as luxurious, but still very tasty) and put it through the blender to make it a bit smoother (when using the milk). Wish the recipe made more for freezing, but I bet you can double (or triple) it.