This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is dreamy enough for date night yet quick enough for a weeknight meal!

What’s better than a cozy dish of pasta? This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is decadent enough for date night, but quick enough for a weeknight at home. Orecchiette perfectly carries this bright, rich, and smooth sauce that’s peppered with vegetarian crumbles. 

Let’s Talk Ingredients!

Orecchiette:

Orecchiette pasta is named for its shape and literally means “little ears.” I love utilizing this shape for many reasons, but in this case, it’s perfect for catching sauce, and carrying the vegetarian crumble. If you can’t get your hands on this shape, I recommend opting for any small shell shape that you can find for the optimal sauce-to-pasta ratio in each bite.

Vegetarian Crumble:

My favorite vegetarian crumble for this recipe is Trader Joe’s Beefless Ground Beef. It has a fine crumble with a great texture. If you are not near a Trader Joe’s opt for your favorite ground meat alternative, or use the real deal if you like! The Trader Joe’s option comes without any need for cooking, so if you opt for a brand that requires frying such as Impossible, Beyond, or LightLife, I recommend pre-frying these options and breaking it into a fine crumble before preparing the recipe as follows.

Ingredients

1 medium shallot
6 cloves garlic
1 lb orecchiette
15 oz can tomato sauce
12 oz Trader Joe’s Beefless Ground Beef
1 oz parmesan cheese
½ cup red wine, dry
½ cup pasta water reserve
¼ cup whole milk
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano

 

Directions:

  1. Bring a large pot of water with salt to a boil.
  2. Preheat a large heavy bottom pan with oil to medium heat. Dice shallot and finely mince garlic. Add shallot to the preheated pan and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Once translucent, add garlic, basil, and oregano, and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
  3. Add tomato paste and caramelize until darker in color, about 2-3 minutes. Add vegetarian crumble and red wine, and simmer until wine is roughly halved in volume, about 3-4 minutes. Once wine has reduced, add tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, and whole milk, cover, and bring to a simmer. Stirring occasionally, reduce the heat to low if the sauce appears to be thickening while the pasta is cooking.
  4. While sauce is simmering, prepare orecchiette in boiling water according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water just before straining the pasta.
  5. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir to combine. Once pasta was is integrated, add the pasta and stir until each shell is swimming in the sauce.
    1. Note: if the sauce thickened, and is not coating the noodles well, add the remaining 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce.
  6. Serve hot with additional parmesan if desired!
What's better than a cozy dish of pasta? This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is decadent enough for date night, but quick enough for a weeknight at home. Orecchiette perfectly carries this bright, rich, and smooth sauce that's peppered with vegetarian crumbles.
What’s better than a cozy dish of pasta? This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is decadent enough for date night, but quick enough for a weeknight at home. Orecchiette perfectly carries this bright, rich, and smooth sauce that’s peppered with vegetarian crumbles.

This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is dreamy enough for date night yet quick enough for a weeknight meal!

Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

What's better than a cozy dish of pasta? This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is decadent enough for date night, but quick enough for a weeknight at home. Orecchiette perfectly carries this bright, rich, and smooth sauce that's peppered with vegetarian crumbles. 

Ingredients

  • 1 medium shallot
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 lb orecchiette
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 12 oz Trader Joe's Beefless Ground Beef
  • 1 oz parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup red wine, dry
  • ½ cup pasta water reserve
  • ¼ cup whole milk
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3 tbsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water with salt to a boil.
  2. Preheat a large heavy bottom pan with oil to medium heat. Dice shallot and finely mince garlic. Add shallot to the preheated pan and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Once translucent, add garlic, basil, and oregano, and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
  3. Add tomato paste and caramelize until darker in color, about 2-3 minutes. Add vegetarian crumble and red wine, and simmer until wine is roughly halved in volume, about 3-4 minutes. Once wine has reduced, add tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, and whole milk, cover, and bring to a simmer. Stirring occasionally, reduce the heat to low if the sauce appears to be thickening while the pasta is cooking.
  4. While sauce is simmering, prepare orecchiette in boiling water according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water just before straining the pasta.
  5. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir to combine. Once pasta was is integrated, add the pasta and stir until each shell is swimming in the sauce.
  6. Serve hot with additional parmesan if desired!

Notes

If the sauce thickened, and is not coating the noodles well, add the remaining 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce.

Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1/6 Batch
Amount Per Serving Calories 381Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 1gCarbohydrates 59gFiber 5gSugar 8gProtein 17g

Nutrition information isn't always accurate

© Maddie Augustin
Category: The Main Gig
What's better than a cozy dish of pasta? This Orecchiette with Creamy Tomato Sauce is decadent enough for date night, but quick enough for a weeknight at home. Orecchiette perfectly carries this bright, rich, and smooth sauce that's peppered with vegetarian crumbles.