Pasta with the Three P's
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: 10 min
- Cook time: 45 min
- Serving: 4
- Cost: Low
PRESENTATION
Pasta with the Three P's earns its name the honest way: three ingredients — panna, pomodoro, and pesto — each starting with the same letter and each pulling real weight in the sauce. Cream softens the tomato base into something mellow and enveloping, while pesto sweeps in with a hit of basil fragrance that keeps the whole thing from tasting heavy. The result is pasta with tomato pesto and cream that feels complete without asking much of the cook — a few straightforward ingredients that happen to work in close harmony.
Red and green fold together into a color that signals exactly what you're about to eat. The balance is the point. None of the three ingredients dominates — cream rounds out the acidity, tomato anchors the body, and pesto supplies the aromatic lift that a plain tomato cream sauce can't quite reach on its own. That basil fragrance is what lingers, threading through the richness and keeping each bite from feeling flat. It's the kind of dish that works equally well for a relaxed family lunch or a casual dinner with friends.
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INGREDIENTS
- Rigatoni 11.3 oz (320 g)
- Fresh liquid cream 3.5 oz (100 g)
- For the pesto
- Basil 1.2 oz (35 g)
- Extra virgin olive oil 2 ½ tbsp (35 g)
- Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 1 oz (25 g)
- Pecorino cheese 0.5 oz (15 g)
- Pine nuts 0.5 oz (15 g)
- Fine salt 0.3 tsp (2 g) - approx. 1/3 teaspoon
- For the tomato sauce
- Tomato purée 1 ¼ cup (300 g)
- Onions 1.8 oz (50 g)
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Fine salt to taste
How to prepare Pasta with the Three P's
To prepare Pasta with the Three P's, start with the sauce: finely chop the onion 1 and gently sauté it with oil 2 and salt 3 for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
Add the tomato purée (passata) 4 and cook for about 30 minutes 5. Meanwhile, prepare the pesto: place the pine nuts 6 in a food processor.
Add the basil, the salt 7, the grated cheeses 8 and the oil 9.
Blend everything and set the pesto aside 10. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile the sauce will have reduced: adjust the salt 11 and, when there are 5 minutes left of cooking, stir in the cream 12.
Cook the pasta al dente 13. Loosen the sauce with a ladle of the rigatoni cooking water 14. Drain the pasta directly into the sauce 15.
Toss everything together 16 to combine. Divide the pasta among plates, adding the pesto in small spoonfuls 17. Your tasty Pasta with the Three P's is ready 18!