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This creamy tomato sauce in this recipe coats the rigatoni and is finished with a walnut crumb. This cherry tomato pasta sauce blends fresh tomatoes, bell pepper, ricotta, and butter beans into one smooth sauce. It’s so delicious and the beans completely disappear (perfect for hiding extra protein). It’s cozy, satisfying, packed with flavor, and on the table in 45 minutes.
Recipe Summary
Rigatoni coated in a smooth sauce made from softened cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, ricotta, and butter beans. The beans help make the sauce hearty and creamy. This Mediterranean-inspired dinner is ready in 45 minutes.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Why You’ll Love This Creamy Tomato Pasta
- A different kind of creamy: Ricotta and butter beans give the sauce a smooth body without needing cream.
- Creamy and crunchy: That silky sauce with the toasted walnut crumb on top is a great texture combo.
- Built for rigatoni: The sauce works its way into all those ridges and hollow centres of the noodle, while the walnut crumb stays crunchy on top.
- A complete 45-minute dinner: With only 10 minutes of prep and 35 minutes of cooking, this makes an easy dinner for four.
What Makes This Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce Creamy?
This creamy tomato pasta sauce gets its texture from ricotta and butter beans. The beans aren’t tossed into the finished pasta whole. Instead, they’re blended right into the sauce until everything is completely smooth.
This is what makes this sauce a little different from your typical tomato pasta sauce. Blending the softened vegetables and beans creates a velvety consistency, while the ricotta makes it extra creamy.
Reserved pasta water is also important here. That starchy water helps loosen the sauce so it can cling to the rigatoni. You want every single noodle coated nicely.
If you love this technique, my Creamy White Bean Pasta is another great example of how beans can be blended directly into a pasta sauce to make it deliciously smooth.
Key Ingredients and What They Do
There are two very important textures happening in this creamy cherry tomato pasta: the silky sauce and the walnut crumb.
- Cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, and garlic: This is the vegetable base of the sauce. The cherry tomatoes and bell pepper soften down with the aromatics before everything gets blended.
- Ricotta and butter beans: The secret to the sauce’s creamy texture.
- Better Than Bouillon vegetable base: Used to season both the sauce and walnut crumb to build more savory flavor.
- Walnuts, anchovy paste, nutritional yeast, and chili flakes: This combination makes the crumb and perfectly finishes the pasta. Note that the topping contains both fish and tree nuts.
- Rigatoni or mezzi rigatoni: Those tubes and ridges are ideal for catching the thick sauce. Penne, fusilli, or rotini can also be used.
- Reserved pasta water: You’ll need ½ cup, plus up to ¼ cup more if necessary, to loosen the sauce until it coats the noodles perfectly.
- Parmesan: Totally optional, but you can freshly grate some over each bowl before serving.
Tips for a Smooth Sauce and Crisp Walnut Crumb
Keep the walnut crumb coarse. Texture is the whole point here! Once you add the nutritional yeast and chili flakes, only pulse the mixture another 1–2 times. You don’t want to turn those walnuts into a paste.
Watch the walnuts while they toast. Stir the mixture often and transfer it to a bowl once toasted. Don’t leave it sitting in the skillet, and keep it separate from the pasta until you’re ready to serve. That’s how you preserve all that crunch.
Use your eyes when cooking the tomatoes. You’re looking for tomatoes that are soft and beginning to break down. The 10–12-minute cook time is a guide, but that visual cue will tell you when they’re actually ready.
Don’t skip the cooling time. Let the cooked tomato mixture cool for 5–10 minutes before transferring it to your blender. Warm ingredients can create steam and pressure inside a sealed blender, so always follow your blender manufacturer’s instructions for blending warm mixtures.
Look for the perfect cling. Once everything is tossed together, the sauce should coat the noodles nicely. If it’s still a little too thick, add some of that extra reserved pasta water rather than reaching for milk or cream.
Pasta Shapes and Supplied Substitutions
Rigatoni or mezzi rigatoni is my preferred pasta here because the ridges and hollow centres give that thick sauce so many places to go.
If you don’t have either, you can also use penne, fusilli, or rotini. Ridged, tubular, and twisted short pastas give the sauce plenty of surface area to grab onto while also catching little bits of the walnut crumb.
And if you accidentally pour all your pasta water down the drain before remembering you needed it, use ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth instead.
What to Serve with Creamy Tomato Pasta
This creamy tomato pasta has plenty of richness, so I love pairing it with something fresh and acidic. My Simple Homemade Greek Salad brings tomatoes, cucumbers, and brightness to the table, while Maroulosalata is a lighter lettuce-and-herb option. And obviously, you’re going to want something for swiping up the sauce left in your bowl, so serve it with my Quick and Easy Focaccia Bread.
Storage and Reheating
Fridge: Store leftover creamy tomato pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3–4 days. If you can, keep the walnut crumb in a separate container so it stays crunchy instead of soaking up moisture from the sauce.
Reheating: Reheat the pasta gently in a skillet over medium-low heat or in the microwave until warmed through. The sauce will thicken as it sits, so add a splash of water or broth while reheating to help loosen it and restore that creamy consistency.
Freezer: I generally don’t recommend freezing assembled creamy pasta dishes like this one. Ricotta-based sauces can change texture after freezing and thawing, and the pasta itself can become soft. For the best texture and flavor, enjoy this one fresh or within a few days of making it.
Walnut crumb: Definitely store this separately! Keep leftover walnut crumb in an airtight container so it holds onto that delicious coarse, crunchy texture. Add it to the pasta only after reheating.
FAQs
No. This recipe gets its smooth, creamy texture from ricotta and butter beans blended with the softened veggies. Reserved pasta water loosens the sauce so it coats the rigatoni without adding heavy cream.
No. The drained and rinsed butter beans are mixed with the cooked tomato mixture and ricotta until smooth. They become part of the sauce rather than a separate add-in.
Yes. This recipe is specifically made with 2 pints of fresh cherry tomatoes. They cook the bell pepper, onion, and garlic until softened and beginning to break down, then add them to the sauce.
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Ingredients
For the walnut crumb
- ½ cup walnuts
- ½ tsp Better than Bouillon vegetable base
- ½ tsp anchovy paste
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ⅛ tsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes
- 1 red or orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 tbsp Better than Bouillon vegetable base
- ¼ tsp chili flakes
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 14-15 oz (398ml) can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the pasta
- ¾ lb 340 grams rigatoni (or mezzi rigatoni)
- ½ cup reserved pasta water
For serving
- freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
Start CookingMake the walnut topping
- Add the walnuts, vegetable base and anchovy paste to a food processor and pulse until you get a coarse crumb. Add the nutritional yeast and chili flakes and pulse 1-2 times more just to combine.
- To a medium skillet add 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, turn to medium-low, add the chopped walnut mixture and cook until toasted, stirring often. Set the walnut mixture aside in a bowl to cool.
Cook the pasta
- Cook the pasta according to package directions, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, drain and set aside.
Make the pasta sauce
- To a large high-sided skillet, add the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the diced onion and saute until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, diced pepper and Better than Bouillon vegetable base and stir to combine. Turn the heat to medium-low and put the lid on most of the way, stir occasionally and cook for 10-12 minutes, until the tomatoes are softened and start to break down.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then add the sauce from the pan along with the chili flakes, ricotta and drained and rinsed butter beans to a blender. Blend the sauce until smooth and combined. Set aside.
Assemble the dish
- Back in the large skillet, add the pasta sauce and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes to warm through. Then, add the cooked pasta, ½ cup pasta water and ½ tsp salt to the warmed sauce and toss to combine, cooking for 1-2 minutes until the sauce coats the noodles nicely. If needed, use ¼ more pasta water to help loosen the pasta sauce and coat the noodles.
- Remove the pasta from the heat.
- Serve topped with the walnut topping and (optional) freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
- If you can’t find rigatoni, try mezzi rigatoni or another pasta shape like penne, fusili or rotini.
- If you forget to save pasta water, you can use 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth instead.
- If you love this recipe, try our Vodka Pasta Recipe (Creamy, Spicy & Ready in 20 Minutes!) 🍝
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