Italian pink sauce pasta is a perfect comfort dish made with basic ingredients. It is incredibly delicious and gets ready in under 30 minutes and makes a perfect midweek pasta dinner.
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Looking for an easy dinner for busy weeknights? Then you have to try this delicious pasta. This pink sauce pasta recipe is super easy to prepare with just a few handful of ingredients. The bold flavour of tomato and the creaminess of heavy cream make this pasta dish delectable and crave-worthy.
You call it pink sauce pasta, rose pasta recipe, pasta rose or whatever, this is the best pink sauce recipe to prepare with minimal effort. Check out more pasta recipes on the blog: pumpkin spinach pasta, carrot pasta, rasta pasta and hidden vegetable pasta.
Why you will love pink sauce pasta?
Beginners friendly
Made with basic ingredients
Any pasta shape and size could be used
Gets ready in less than 30 minutes.
What is pink sauce?
Pink sauce also termed rose sauce is a rich and creamy Italian pasta sauce made of tomatoes, cheese, herbs and cream. It is also called Rosa pasta or Rosa. It is named pink sauce because of the beautiful pink hue created by the blend of tomatoes and white cream.
How to make pink sauce?
Whole tomatoes, parmesan cheese and heavy cream (double cream) are the key ingredients of traditional pink sauce recipe. Whole tomatoes are cooked until soft along with onion and garlic, seasoned with Italian herbs, salt pepper, combined with cream and then blended until smooth and creamy.
However, to speed up the process I've used tomato puree in this recipe and used cheddar cheese as that is all I had on hand. This creamy and easy pink sauce recipe is quick to make and gets ready in less than 15 minutes.
Make a big batch of sauce and store it in a freezer to use later in a week or a month. Whenever you plan to make pasta, just thaw the sauce, mix it with cooked pasta and season with extra salt and pepper if necessary. It saves time and takes away the stress of busy weeknight meal planning.
Ingredients
- Pasta: I've used penne pasta but feel free to use any pasta that you have on hand.
- Seasoning: salt, pepper and fresh parsley.
- Cream: Double cream (heavy cream) has been used here.
- Other Dairy Products: cheddar cheese and butter.
- Vegetables: Fresh onion, garlic and canned tomato puree.
Find the quantities and a short video in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
How to make pink sauce pasta?
Bring water to a rolling boil.
Add pasta and cook until al-dente.
Strain the pasta in a colander. Reserve half a cup of pasta water and discard the rest of the water.
Melt butter in a pan/ large skillet over medium heat.
Add onion, garlic and cook for 5 - 7 minutes or until onion turns soft and translucent.
Add tomato puree and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Now add cream and stir well until the cream blends well with the tomato puree.
Add cheese, pepper, salt and parsley and stir well. Now add pasta water only if necessary to adjust the consistency of the sauce.
Finally, add the cooked penne pasta and stir until well combined.
Enjoy delicious Italian pink sauce pasta.
Pink Sauce Variations
Feel free to use fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes to make a sauce.
A small spoonful of tomato paste adds a pop of colour and pronounced tomato flavour to the pink sauce.
Fresh garlic could be replaced with garlic granules or garlic powder.
Olive oil could be used instead of butter to make a pink sauce for pasta.
You could use parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese or cream cheese instead of cheddar cheese.
Feel free to use other herbs such as fresh basil or dried Italian herbs instead of parsley.
What to serve pink sauce pasta with?
Pasta with pink sauce makes a great weeknight dish to serve with simple salads such as corn cucumber tomato salad, coleslaw or chickpea salad.
Serve it with simple vegetable side dishes such as maple roasted carrots, sweet potato wedges, roasted baby potatoes, air fryer baby carrots or garlic herb roasted vegetables.
Don't forget to add the desserts. A few decadent desserts from the blog: fudge with cocoa powder, mango mousse, strawberry fool, and coconut pudding.
Storage
Freezer: If you make a big batch of pink sauce to use on busy days, divide it into desired portions. Store each portion separately in zip lock bags or freezer-friendly airtight containers and keep them in the freezer. Ensure to allow the pasta sauce to cool completely before you transfer it to zip-lock bags/containers.
Consider freezing leftover pasta pink sauce if you don't plan to finish it off in 4-5 days.
Pasta mixed with sauce doesn't freeze well.
Defrosting: Take out a portion from the freezer and keep it in the fridge to thaw a night before you plan to use it.
Fridge: If you plan to make a big batch to use for another meal, scoop out the desired portion to toss pasta and store the leftover sauce in the fridge for 4-5 days in a clean airtight jar.
Reheat: Place tomato cream sauce in a bowl and reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop and toss the pasta.
Store the leftover pasta with sauce in the fridge for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Reheat it in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop. You may have to add a little liquid to loosen up the pasta. You can use water, cream or vegetable stock.
Tips and Tricks
Consistency: If creamy tomato sauce gets thick add reserved pasta water, stir well, simmer for a few minutes and then toss the cooked pasta.
Ratio: Adjust the cream and tomato ratio to get the desired pink shade. More cream yields light pink colour and more tomato puree yields bright colour.
Pasta: Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and immediately add cold water over the pasta in the colander to prevent it from cooking further and sticking to each other.
Sauce: Adjust the sauce based on your texture preference. Add more sauce if you like your pasta to be wet. Add less sauce if you like a bit of dry and crunchy pasta.
FAQ
Classic Italian pink sauce is also called Rose sauce. It is often referred to as Parma Rosa or Rose Pasta Sauce.
Substitute heavy cream with coconut milk. It's essential to use full-fat coconut milk to achieve creaminess. Low-fat coconut milk won't turn pasta rich and creamy.
Add red pepper flakes while serving or stir in cayenne pepper along with other seasoning to spice up the pasta.
Transforming marinara sauce into pink sauce is pretty simple. Heat marinara sauce in a skillet, stir in cream and simmer for a few minutes.
Check and adjust seasoning to taste. Easy peasy! Pink sauce is ready.
For a change, toss spaghetti with the pink pasta sauce to make it pink sauce spaghetti.
Absolutely, any pasta shape and size can be used in this pink pasta recipe. I love penne, you can try rigatoni, elbow macaroni or shells. It works absolutely well with ravioli and even long pasta.
Pink sauce makes a perfect pizza sauce with an extra step to make it a little thicker consistency so that the pizza dough doesn't get soggy.
Simmer the pink pasta sauce for a few more minutes until it thickens and reaches the pizza sauce consistency. Let it cool and transfer it to a clean airtight container. Use it on bread pizza, vegetable flatbread pizza or any homemade pizza.
Not only is this thick sauce perfect to use on pizza but as a spread in wraps and sandwiches.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Do let me know if you make this Italian pink sauce pasta. If you like this recipe kindly consider rating it using stars in the comment section or on the recipe card to help more people find this recipe online. You can stay up to date by following me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or subscribing to my Youtube channel. Or why not subscribe to my blog and get simple recipes straight to your inbox
Related
📖 Recipe Card
Italian Pink Sauce Pasta Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 1 Steel pot
- 1 Shallow Steel Pan
- 1 Colander
- 1 Spoon (Wooden/Steel)
Ingredients
1 Cup = 250ml ; 1 Tablespoon = 15ml ; 1 Teaspoon = 5ml
- 370 gms (or) 3 Cups Penne Pasta
- Water to boil pasta
- 15 gms (or) 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 93 gms (or) ¾ Cup Onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic minced/finely chopped
- 325 gms (or) 1 Cup Tomato Puree/Passata
- 225 ml (or) 1 Cup Heavy Cream/Double Cream
- Salt as required
- 1 Teaspoon Pepper
- Fresh Parsley handful
- 55 gms (or) ½ Cup Cheddar Cheese grated
Instructions
- Bring water to a rolling boil.Water
- Add pasta and cook until al-dente.370 gms (or) 3 Cups Penne Pasta
- Strain the pasta in a colander. Reserve half a cup of pasta water and discard the rest of the water.
- Melt butter in a pan/ large skillet over medium heat.15 gms (or) 1 Tablespoon Butter
- Add onion, garlic and cook for 5 - 7 minutes or until onion turns soft and translucent.93 gms (or) ¾ Cup Onion, 2 cloves Garlic
- Add tomato puree and cook for another 2-3 minutes.325 gms (or) 1 Cup Tomato Puree/Passata
- Now add cream and stir well until the cream blends well with tomato puree.225 ml (or) 1 Cup Heavy Cream/Double Cream
- Add cheese, pepper, salt and parsley and stir well. Now add pasta water only if necessary to adjust the consistency of the sauce.Salt, 1 Teaspoon Pepper, Fresh Parsley
- Add the cooked penne pasta and stir until well combined.
- Enjoy delicious pink sauce pasta.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with pasta:
Welcome to Flavours Treat. I share vegetarian recipes made with wholesome, mostly healthy and fresh ingredients. Every recipe has easy-to-follow instructions with process shots (detailed step-wise pictures), a short video and lots of tips to help your cooking journey. Read more
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