Go Back
Print

creamy burst tomato pasta skillet

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword cherry tomatoes, cream sauce, mozzarella, pasta, quick and easy, skillet meals
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsps olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • healthy pinch salt and pepper
  • 2 pints cherry tomatoes
  • 12 oz Al Dente Carba-Nada Fusilli or your favorite short cut noodle
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 (8oz) mozzarella ball sliced into smaller chunks
  • freshly minced basil and grated parm for serving
  • optional topping: cooked and crispy and crumbled bacon***

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, dried basil, salt, and pepper then stir and let cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in the cherry tomatoes then cover and let cook until bursting, about 15-20, stirring occasionally.
  2. Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to package instructions then drain.
  3. Once tomatoes are bursting, use the back of your wooden spoon or cooking utensil to smash the tomatoes to create a tomato sauce then mix in the heavy cream. Reduce heat to medium-low then let cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes, stirring often.
  4. Next, mix in the cooked pasta noodles then stir to evenly incorporate everything. Top skillet with the mozzarella chunks then cover and let cook until the cheese has melted.
  5. Top pasta skillet with freshly minced basil and grated parmesan cheese!

Recipe Notes

***I also added some crispy bacon chunks to mine but this is totally optional. If you want to do this, preheat the oven to 400F before step one then arrange about 8 slices of bacon on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake bacon in the oven until crispy, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, then crumble once cool enough to handle then sprinkle it over the finished pasta skillet.