Bow Tie Pasta
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I love a simple and fast weeknight meal and this Bow Tie Pasta recipe absolutely fits the bill. The bow ties are cooked and then tossed with a creamy tomato sauce with parmesan cheese and fresh basil. SO SO good. Delicious served with Garlic Bread and Cucumber Tomato Salad.
Bow Tie Pasta | A Quick and Easy Dinner
I love sharing recipes that I make all the time but never think to share on my blog. This is one of those recipes! “Bow Tie Pasta” at my house is a creamy tomato pasta dish that comes together in 20 minutes or less. It’s a no-fuss recipe that tastes delicious. My simple creamy tomato sauce is simply garlic, canned tomatoes, heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Adding a touch of sugar and a healthy bit of salt bring this sauce to life and make it taste as good as it should. The fresh basil really just adds a little more flavor and color, plus is a classic Italian touch.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we enjoy it. Be sure to add it to your regular rotation because I know you’ll want to make this again and again.
Main Ingredients
You don’t need much to make this Bow Tie Pasta recipe, with a few helpful store-bought ingredients you’ll have this ready in a jiffy!
- Bow Tie Pasta – also known as farfalle or butterfly pasta. These hold the sauce quite perfectly, plus they are a fun shape for kids.
- Garlic – tasty garlic to start off this dish.
- Tomatoes – I made this recipe fast and easy by using canned diced tomatoes! Use the petite diced if you have picky eaters.
- Sugar – this is to help cut the acidity of the canned tomatoes.
- Heavy Cream – this adds creaminess to the sauce.
- Parmesan – use fresh hand grated parmesan for best melting results.
- Basil Leaves – last but not least, is basil leaves! Slice them thin and enjoy their fresh taste.
Bow Tie Pasta Variations
Now I originally made this Bow Tie Pasta to be vegetarian, but if you are a meat eater, don’t let that stop you from adding some protein. Here are a few ideas:
- Italian Sausage
- Smoked Sausage
- Chicken
Or if you’re looking for more vegetables to add try wilting some spinach while cooking or slice up some mushrooms and cook with the garlic!
How to Make Bow Tie Pasta
For full details on how to make bow tie pasta, including increments, see the printable recipe card down below.
Step 1: Cook the Pasta
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook bowtie pasta until al dente and drain. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the Sauce
While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook garlic until fragrant. Pour in a can of diced tomatoes with sugar, salt, and pepper. Simmer gently for 2 minutes.
Pour in heavy cream and reduce heat to low. Sprinkle in parmesan cheese and stir to melt. Taste and adjust seasonings. It may need more sugar and/or salt, depending on how acidic your tomatoes were. Typically, you will need a little bit of both.
Step 3: Top with Basil
Add hot pasta and stir to coat in sauce. Add chopped basil and stir.
Serve immediately.
Leftovers
This Bow Tie Pasta recipe is a double winner. Not only does it make a fast and easy dinner but it also saves well! Simply store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days! The sauce might not seem as creamy right out of the fridge, but simply add a splash of water into your bowl or container before microwaving to get that “saucy” pasta back. It works like a charm.
More Classic Pasta Recipes to Try!
- Homemade Alfredo Sauce
- Baked Rigatoni Pasta
- Parmesan & Garlic Linguine Pasta
- Gluten Free Pasta with Spaghetti Meat Sauce
The printable recipe card is down below, enjoy 🙂
Bow Tie Pasta
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook bowtie pasta until al dente and drain. Set aside.
- While pasta is cooking heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook garlic for 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant.
- Pour in can of diced tomatoes with sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 2 minutes.
- Pour in heavy cream and reduce heat to low.
- Sprinkle in parmesan cheese and stir to melt. Taste and adjust seasonings. It may need more sugar and/or salt, depending how acidic your tomatoes were.
- Add hot pasta and stir to coat in sauce. Add chopped basil and stir.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Made this for dinner tonight and it was Superb!!! I have made many of your recipes and they never let me down – all wonderful and delicious! Thank you sooo much!I have kids who try to pick out diced tomatoes whenever I make pasta dishes. So I solved that by giving canned, diced tomatoes a few whirs in my baby bullet – purées it into nothing 😉 Yes, I have one of those that doesn’t like ‘chunks’. Ha! Smart move!
Will be trying this sounds so good. Thank you!! - It was fantastic, I diced my own Capri tomatoes and added fresh parsley at the very end. Thank you!
- We live the bow tie fish, I tweeted it a bit, I didn’t have fresh garlic so I used powder, I diced my own tomatoes from the garden instead out of the can, used powder Parm cheese I didn’t have fresh one and I added spinach it turn out delicious.
I just made this for dinner and my 7 year old son(also a pasta lover) called me a chef. Lol. I used shell pasta in place of the bowtie pasta, because I didn’t have any on hand. I substituted the heavy cream with cream cheese because I didn’t have the ingredients for heavy cream. It turned out very good, even though I’m not a big fan of creamy type sauces.
