Creamy Burst Cherry TOmato Sauce

Little Italy, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Cleveland is on the east side of town and it's home to one of my favorite dishes of all time. Since I live on the west side of town, it's kind of a treck - but always worth it for Mia Bella's cheese tortellini. Cheese stuffed pasta is a no-brainer but the sauce that it's served in is this amazingly rich blush pasta sauce - and it may or may not come with enough of it to save some and put over more pasta right when you get home. :)

I've made several versions of this sauce over the years! It's great with Calabrian chilis mixed in for some heat, and also really good with the addition of pancetta and peas (which is how it's served at Mia Bella!)

Lots of questions about if this recipe can be made without the white wine or not - it can! I suggest subbing in chicken or vegetable broth in place of the wine. (The addition of liquid at this part of the recipe helps the garlic to not burn in the oil so it's pretty crucial to keep a liquid in the recipe at this step!)

What You Need

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 thick slices of butter
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
• 2 cups of cherry tomatoes 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/3 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pasta - whatever kind you want

Optional:

• 1 tbsp crushed calabrian chilis or red pepper flakes to make it spicy!
• Parmesan cheese or burrata for topping
• Fresh basil leaves for topping

What To Do

1. Warm the olive oil and butter in a large skillet on low-medium heat and add the tomatoes and garlic to it. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
2. Add in the wine and optional spicy ingredient options, give it a good stir, turn the heat to medium and cover with a lid for 8-10 minutes.
3. The cherry tomatoes should be wilted and very soft! Pop them with a fork (carefully - they will squirt!) 
4. Add the heavy cream and stir. The color of the sauce will turn pretty orange here! Give it a few minutes to thicken up. Once it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, it's done. (If you don't like the texture of tomato, you could always run the sauce through a food blender, or use an immersion blender to make it more smooth.)
5. Add the pasta to the sauce and top with basil and parmesan before serving!