The simple combination of your favourite tomato sauce, ricotta and cavatelli will provide you with a trattoria-style Italian home cooked meal. Come and take a look at how easy it is to make this recipe for Cavatelli with tomato ricotta sauce.
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A little over a month ago, I shared my family’s homemade cavatelli pasta dough recipe. (I’ve included a video to show you how easy it is 🙂 ) As in most things Italian, it’s a little time consuming to make, but super simple. I will usually double the recipe so that whenever I need cavatelli, they are waiting for me in the freezer. (If making cavatelli is not your thing, no problem – you can easily use store-bought cavatelli). The pretty shape you see below is obtained by gently pressing the dough into a grooved wooden board.
Boil your cavatelli, and begin prepping the tomato sauce. All that’s left now is to add your ricotta to your tomato sauce. (Come and see how ridiculously easy it is to make your own ricotta…and it’s so much better too!)
Enjoy the pasta!
Recipe inspiration
As you can probably guess, this is one of the meals that would frequently find its way to the dinner table as I was growing up.
When I think back to my upbringing, I realize that there was a lot of “routine” when it came to meal planning. There was also a lot of simplicity.
Pasta dishes were served three times a week: Sunday for lunch, Tuesday and Thursday for supper. Preparation for Sunday lunch was always an elaborate affair, starting at 8 o’clock in the morning with tomato sauce simmering on the stove. I can still remember the wonderful aroma of sauce as I ate my breakfast in the kitchen.
This recipe for cavatelli with tomato ricotta sauce is just one of the ways my mom would prepare this pasta. I hope you enjoy this trattoria-style Italian home-cooked meal which can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.
Cavatelli with Tomato Ricotta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound Cavatelli Pasta homemade or store bought pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 2-3 cups tomato sauce or passata
- 3/4 - 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup Romano cheese grated
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. (While waiting for the water to boil, you can prepare the sauce).
- Over medium heat, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.
- Sauté the garlic about 3 minutes until fragrant -texture should still be soft-do not allow to brown.
- Stir in tomato sauce and cook until sauce is thickened (about 7-10 minutes).
- Add your homemade cavatell to the pot of boiling water. (Cavatelli are done when they rise to the surface).
- Remove from heat and strain pasta in colander.
- Combine ricotta cheese with tomato sauce.
- Toss cavatelli with the tomato ricotta sauce.
- Serve in individual bowls.
- Garnish with basil leaves and romano cheese.
Notes
You can adjust the quantity of tomato sauce and ricotta to suit your preference. Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is just a rough estimate and variations can occur depending on the specific ingredients used.
Nutrition
Thanks for dropping by.
Ciao for now!
Maria 🙂
Vanessa
I absolutely love this dish!! As does my husband, and my 13 month old daughter gobbled this up too! I love that it comes together so quickly, and it is so flavourful…
I found your recipes from a work friend, Liliana, who I believe is related to you…thank you so much for sharing these healthy and delicious recipes 🤗👏👏
Maria
How wonderful Vanessa! Yes, Liliana is my aunt. Thanks so much for taking the time to share and comment.
Joyce Cantin
Can we replace the tomate sauce with jarred pasta sauce? thanks from south shore Montreal
Maria
Thanks for your interest fellow Montrealer! Yes, that would work just fine. Enjoy Joyce!
Erez
I have been cooking pasta dishes for 20 years and for some reason never thought about the combination of tomato sauce and riccota.
My life changed today! thank you:))))))
Maria
My pleasure Erez! Isn’t it just a wonderful combination? Thanks for taking the time to comment, appreciate it.
Ur pal val
I can eat cavatelli with just about any sauce. I love the combination of tomato sauce and ricotta. Can’t wait to try this cavatelli recipe.
Maria
This tomato ricotta sauce is one of my favorites! It really does come together so easily and has so much flavor. Appreciate you taking the time to comment 🙂
Rosa
I have a weak spot for dishes that include tomato sauce and ricotta. Pinned to try later. 🙂
Maria
It’s also one of my favorite combinations. Thanks for dropping by Rosa 🙂
Stephanie | Worth Whisking
Maria, this looks amazing! Super cheesy pasta dishes are my favorite, and this one is so easy to make! I think this will be making its way to my dinner table soon! Thank you for the recipe!
Maria
Thanks Stephanie! I think I sprinkled a bit too much cheese…as you say it was super cheesy 😉
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Lina
Hi how can I see the video
Thank you
Maria
Hi Lina,
If you click on the highlighted words “homemade cavatelli pasta dough recipe” it will bring you to the post which has the video on how to make the cavatelli.
Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Lina
Thank you!
deb@glutenfreefarina
Great to see it all come together. I love the board. I need to order that. And I am so impressed with the video of how to make cavatelli. Great work!
Maria
Thanks Deb! Tinkering with video…it was a lot of fun.
Great to hear from you, thanks 🙂
Maria
This is definatley a dish my hubby will love!!! Perfect for traditional sunday lunch!!
Will be trying for sure!!
Maria
Hi Maria!
It’s always a hit in our family…the ultimate comfort food. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Enjoy 🙂