You guys…you will legit have dreams about this pasta sauce. There is nothing like it. Is it a tomato sauce? Is it a butter sauce?? Your taste buds are confused in the most delicious way imaginable ❤️😍. The butter in this SUPER simple tomato sauce just kicks everything up ten million notches, and it makes the tomato sauce so rich and almost creamy, in a way.
YOU WILL BE IN LOVE.
The tender pasta, the rich, buttery tomato sauce, the crisp, peppery arugula = a bowl of pure heaven. Not only is this recipe (specifically the sauce ❤️) SUPER yummy, it is also so, so, so, soooo easy to make. There are only a few steps, and it’s on your table ready to eat in thirty minutes!
- Boil the pasta
- Dice an onion and a few cloves of garlic
- Saute the veggies in a pan for a few minutes, then add pureed tomatoes
- Simmer for 10 minutes, and add your butter and parmesan cheese.
- Drain your pasta, add it to the sauce, throw a couple of handfuls of arugula in there.
DONE. That’s it. Easy and yum, yum, yummy.
This recipe is totally a pantry/fridge cleaner. Do you know what I mean when I say that? You are out of your “planned meal” groceries and you don’t want to go to the grocery store, so you scrounge around your pantry and fridge to see what you can find. Ironically, that’s exactly what this recipe was for me.
I had another blog post that I was planning on posting today – it was photographed and everything – but it’s one that I made really early on in my pregnancy before all food started to gross me out. Yes, food no longer grosses me out (PRAISE THE LAWD), but since this recipe was sitting in my iPhoto gallery throughout November and December, taunting me, it still kind of grosses me out even though my food aversions are over.
So I decided, maybe I can go home and find something yummy to make as a fridge/pantry cleaner and post that instead of the other recipe! And that’s exactly what happened. Other than the arugula, which I just happened to have laying around, the other ingredients in this recipe are staples that most of you are likely to have in your kitchen already.
- Pasta
- Onion
- Garlic
- Canned tomatoes
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese
The Parmesan cheese may not be a staple for you, but I ALWAYS have it in my cheese drawer because it lasts for so dang long. I buy it for one recipe and then still have it weeks later.
And, the cool thing is, if you don’t have the parmesan cheese and arugula in your fridge, you can easily skip those two ingredients and just have the pasta with tomato butter sauce – that’s definitely the best part anyway.
Super quick, simple, and delicious fridge/pantry cleaners FTW!
There is supposed to be this huge ice storm in Kansas this weekend…and from someone who grew up in the South with very mild winters, thiiiiisss freaks me out. People are saying that last time this happened, their power was out for an entire week! I have no fireplace…I have not stocked up on bottled water or non-perishable food…I’M GOING TO DIE.
Just kidding…but I am kind of nervous about it for realsies. And Seth is gone for all of January and February in the field, so I am alllllll alone dealing with this impending WINTER DOOM.
If you are basking in a warm city that has super mild winters, just know that I am silently resenting you and your short sleeves right now.
BUT the bright side is that we just got brand new, super fancy and cozy bedding. Every year at around this time, Seth and I decide what we want to do with the credit card rewards that we built up all year. This year we decided that new bedding was LONG overdue…our comforter had a person-sized rip in it that we would get our legs caught in…it was the worst.
So we invested in the nicest sheets, comforter, and pillows that money can possibly buy, and now it feels like we are sleeping on a cloud while a pillow simultaneously gives us a warm hug and whispers soothing things into our ears. So when my power goes out and my house is twenty degrees, you can be assured that I’ll be cozying up underneath those layers of sheets and covers, hopefully with my dog and cat cuddling close by…😀
Hopefully my microwave will be working for most of the weekend, and I can curl up with a bowl of this pasta ❤️.
PrintArugula Pasta with Tomato Butter Sauce

- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 to 1 pound pasta (use less or more depending on how saucy you like the pasta. Photographed in this post is 1 pound of pasta. I used rigatoni)
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups canned tomatoes, pureed (either use crushed tomatoes that are already pureed, or blend a can of whole or diced tomatoes until they are smooth)
- 4 tablespoons butter, sliced into several pieces
- 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- A few big handfuls of arugula (exact amount will depend on preference)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of SALTED (it should taste like the ocean) water to a boil. When boiling, add your pasta and cook according to package instructions
- Meanwhile, saute your onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium high heat with little bit of olive oil until the onions have softened. Season with salt and pepper
- Add your tomato puree to the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer
- Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often
- When the 10 minutes are up, stir in your butter and parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Remove from the heat, add your pasta and arugula, and stir to combine
Each serving is about 1 1/2 cups (assuming you use the whole pound of pasta). Nutrition info is for 1 serving.
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!
In the mood for more yummy pasta recipes? Check these out:
Baked Gnocchi with Blistered Tomato Parmesan Sauce
20 Minute Lemon Parmesan Pasta
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