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Creamy Tomato and Harissa Pasta
This tasty pasta number is the perfect balance of flavours. It’s creamy and bright, with just a hint of spice. It’s also pretty flexible. Swap the sundried tomatoes for jarred roasted red peppers and the mascarpone for ricotta and you’d have yourself a very tasty creamy red pepper and harissa pasta. To be honest, any kind of antipasto is fair game here!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 500 g dried pasta of choice (I used bucatini)
- 250 g mascarpone
- 200 g oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained (drained weight)
- 50 g parmigiano reggiano or grana padano
- 25 g fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsps rose harissa paste
- 1 large garlic clove
- 120 ml cold water
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Season generously with salt (the water should be sea-level salty). Cook the pasta according to the package instructions until al dente.
- Meanwhile, place the mascarpone, sundried tomatoes, parmesan, fresh basil, rose harissa paste, garlic and cold water in a food processor. Season lightly with salt and pepper and blitz until a chunky sauce forms.
- Drain the pasta, reserving two ladlefuls of the pasta cooking water.
- Pour the sauce into the pasta with a ladleful of pasta water. Toss until the sauce nicely coats the pasta, adding more pasta water as necessary.
- Divide between bowls, serve and enjoy!
14 Responses
This is the best pasta 🍝 dish I’ve ever had. It was so delicious 😋.
Oh wow, what a compliment – thank you!
We made this today! Delicious! Didn’t have mascarpone, but subbed in some whipped cottage cheese and it was still delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Should you ever make it again and you don’t have mascarpone or cottage cheese, ricotta also works!
I make this recipe regularly, we both love how flavourful it is, and I love how easy it is to make too!
A firm favourite, thank you Zena.
You’re very welcome! The fact that it’s a staple in your home really warms my heart x
My favorite pasta ever and so so easy to make! Thank you!
Aww I’m so glad! It’s my absolute pleasure 🙂
Anybody know if the sauce is good to freeze?
My apologies for the delay in my response! The sauce can be frozen separately and used later when thawed but I will say that the texture does get a little funny
Soooo tasty. I added a little rose powder to the dish and made my own harissa (I can’t find it in stores where I live) so the dish did end up being a little high maintenance to make…but I don’t care, it’s so good! I will be making again!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for you review 🙂
Hi! Can I use Harissa sauce instead of paste? Or are those the same? Thanks 🙂
Hi! I’ve not come across harissa sauce before but I would assume it’s perhaps less concentrated. So my answer is yes but you may need more 🙂