Parmesan Cream Sauce Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil
This delicious pasta with cream sauce is made with simple ingredients, has an added bonus of fresh tomatoes and basil, and will take only about 30 minutes.
Cook pasta according to the package instruction and right before draining the pasta, scoop out a cup of pasta cooking water. (I often place a measuring cup into the pasta strainer, while I wait for pasta to cook, to remind myself to save some cooking water.) Strain pasta and set aside.
This is a fast recipe so prepare the ingredients before starting to cook the sauce, while pasta is cooking. Measure what you need, slice shallots thinly, mince garlic cloves, cut cherry tomatoes in half, and minced basil.
Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat and add butter. Once butter is melted, add oil and shallot. Let shallot sauté until it's browned.
Add minced garlic, stir and sauté until just fragrant.
Pour in cooking water and heavy whipping cream. Lower the heat to medium-low, slowly stir, and add some salt and pepper to taste.
Once the cream mixture in heated through, add fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Stir slowly and let the cheese incorporate and melt into the sauce.
Add pasta back in along with tomatoes and basil. Use tongs to stir the pasta with sauce, tomatoes and basil. Cook just until pasta is heated through and serve!