Pasta with Yellow Tomato Sauce (Vegetarian!)

Sweet, salty, and highly addictive – pasta with yellow tomato sauce and a dollop of buffalo ricotta will revive your spirit and make all the blues go away.

 

There’s nothing like a sauce that just makes you feel alive. Ripe, juicy yellow tomatoes will do that for you, especially when they’re turned into a yummy sauce. Thank the heavens for Così Com’è jarred yellow datterino tomatoes. You can savor the sweet bliss of an Italian summer, all year round.

So…what are yellow datterino tomatoes?

In Italian, these tomatoes are called datterini gialli. The most proper American translation is yellow date tomatoes. The name not only comes from the date-like shape of the tomato but also just how deliciously sweet these tomatoes are.

It isn’t often that you see yellow date tomatoes around in our supermarkets. They’re very niche and, in my experience, rarely grown in America (if I am wrong, please let me know. But, to this day, I have yet to see these tomatoes at grocery stores or farmers’ markets.) Italy is a whole different story. You can find some seriously sweet tomato varieties, grown in exceptionally fertile and often volcanic soils.

Così Com’è makes it easy to access this nectar of the gods. This company specializes in top-quality tomatoes, all grown and packaged in the gorgeous Cilento area in the Campania region of Italy. Cilento lies just south of the famed Amalfi Coast, with rich soil once catered to by the Romans. Marvelous, right?

Fortunately, places like Eataly make access to amazing companies like Così Com’è a lot easier. You can also order these lovely tomatoes online too. The tomatoes come in a few formats, from whole tomatoes to whole tomatoes in juices to even a velouté or puree of the tomatoes. You can’t lose either way.

For me, I prefer whole or whole in juices. These tomatoes are so juicy and sweet, they just melt away so gorgeously in the pan. The velouté or whatever is convenient. But, it isn’t necessary for my humble opinion.

Pasta with Yellow Tomato Sauce Ingredients

So, how do you prepare such a delicious dish? When I tell you how simple it is, you’re going to be shocked. It really takes maybe 3 ingredients max for the sauce. Garlic, EVOO, and the jar of tomatoes. That’s all, I swear!

Then, you choose your pasta. For simple tomato sauces, I adore spaghetti. Tomatoes just wrap around these long noodles in the perfect fashion. You can also go for a shorter pasta. Penne, rigatoni, or mezze maniche would work deliciously.

And, for the grand finale? A big ole dollop of buffalo ricotta cheese. This is a game-changer. It lends a creamy salty contrast to the sweet sauce and al dente noodles. When I took the first bite of this dish, I was in shock. “This dish has it all,” I said to myself out loud. I continued to talk to myself, commenting on the dish and slurping up each noodle. No one was home in the villa, or at least I thought.

Buffalo ricotta isn’t common on American grocery store shelves. But, you can find it! Murray’s Cheese sells Calabro buffalo ricotta. 

You can also opt for sheep’s milk ricotta or regular ricotta. They’ll do just fine.

All together, this dish took…20 ish minutes to make? Maybe faster if you started your pasta water before me. It’s one of my favorite recipes now. And, no, it wasn’t only because I made it in a stunning Tuscan villa. It was the pasta itself, I promise.

P.S. This dish is vegetarian!! I swear!!

Now for the Pasta with Yellow Tomato Sauce RECIPE!

Ingredients:

• One jar of Così Com’è whole yellow datterino tomatoes (in juice or just whole)
• A few glugs of extra virgin olive oil (it is VERY important that it is cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil. I used Monte Bernardi. I also would highly recommend La Maliosa – if you’d like to order Maliosa, please email me!)
• One clove of garlic
• A LOT of coarse sea salt
• A tennis racket’s width of spaghetti (or around 150g of your favorite dried pasta)

Method:

• Fill a pot with water and place over high heat.
• Place medium-sized pan over medium heat.
• Add about 3 glugs of olive oil, heating slowly. When warm, toss in your garlic glove. If you prefer more garlicky pasta, sliver your garlic instead.
• Once garlic begins smelling all aromatic and yum, pour in your tomatoes. Give it all a good stir so that the tomatoes are coated in olive oil.
• Once your water is boiling, add in enough salt that your pasta water is just as salty as the sea. Then, toss in your pasta.*
• Reduce the heat to low on your tomato sauce and allow the tomatoes to cook down, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye out, as this sauce can become very sticky when reducing too fast.
• When your pasta is al dente, strain it and add it directly to your pan. Reserve maybe a quarter cup of pasta water.
• Turn the heat to simmer on your pan. Mix your pasta with the tomatoes, coating each noodle evenly. If the sauce is too thick, then add some pasta water.”
• Plate your pasta. Place a generous scoop of buffalo ricotta on top.
• Garnish with a little basil and you’re all set to eat a super pretty plate of pasta!

*IMPORTANT NOTES!

• If using fresh pasta or any pasta that cooks under 9-10 minutes, do this step AFTER you reduce your tomato sauce. You want to give your sauce enough time to develop more flavor.
• Make sure to do a taste test to check that it isn’t too salty (as sometimes, I’ve seen people get a little excited about the ‘salty as the sea’ term. Usually, you’re fine since there’s no salt in the sauce. But, trust me, I’ve seen disasters happen.

 

Buon Appetito!