The Cozy Cookbook is here! This Tomato Basil Pasta recipe is made with fresh cherry tomatoes and basil in a creamy garlic Parmesan sauce with sausage, turkey, or ground beef!
Be sure to serve this with a side of Garlic Bread with Cheese!
Tomato Basil Pasta
If your garden is exploding with basil and tomatoes right now, I’ve got your back. And if you have no basil or tomatoes on hand but want to make this recipe anyway, I have some great substitution options for you!
You can even use different types of pasta- check out all of the info below!
How to Make it
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Brown ground sausage in a skillet with olive oil until cooked through. Remove and set aside. The brown specks left on the bottom of the pan will add great flavor to the sauce.
Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in flour for 1 minute.
Slowly pour in the chicken broth and half and half. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low.
Gradually sprinkle in the grated Parmesan cheese. Whisk until combined. Add cream cheese and stir until melted and combined. The sauce will continue to thicken as it simmers longer.
Add the tortellini and the tomatoes. Increase heat slightly and bubble gently, uncovered, until the pastas is cooked through. Refer to package for exact time frame, generally 4-7 minutes.
Add the ground sausage back to the pan and stir to combine.
Chiffonade the basil (see below for visual + instructions) and add it to the saucepan, stir to combine. The sauce will thicken even further upon standing. Serve and enjoy!
How to Make Perfect Cream Sauce
- Refrain from adding cold ingredients into warm sauce when you prepare it. This includes the Parmesan cheese, half and half, and cream cheese. The consistency will be super creamy if you follow this instruction.
- Purchase a block of high-quality Parmesan cheese. Always shred the cheese yourself, it will taste and melt much better.
- Let the cheese come to room temperature before adding it to the warm (not hot!) base.
- Add the cheese gradually as opposed to all at once.
How to Chiffonade Basil
To “chiffonade” means to shred or finely slice leafy greens like basil, lettuce, or cabbage.
To do it, create a stack of basil leaves. Roll them up so that they’re a tight and compact cylinder.
Use a sharp paring knife to create thin, even slices along the cylinder.
Separate the slices with your fingers and immediately add them to your dish as they will quickly begin to brown if left out too long.
More Pro Tips and Substitution Options
- Rana is my brand of choice for refrigerated tortellini and I highly recommend using that kind of pasta for this meal. I purchase a 20 oz. bag and use 12 oz. (or 3/4 lb.) for this recipe, then I freeze the remaining 8 oz. (or 1/2 lb.) for another day.
- Browning the meat in the skillet first adds tremendous flavor to the pan that transfers into the sauce.
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes may also be used instead of cherry tomatoes.
- Up to 2 cups of spinach may be used instead of basil. Frozen spinach that’s been thawed and drained works well too.
Using Dry Pasta
The amount of liquid in this sauce is based upon using refrigerated pasta. Dry pasta requires more liquid and cooking time.
To use dry pasta such as Penne or Farfalle:
- Boil 3/4 pound of pasta separately for 5 minutes less than instructed on package.
- Drain and transfer to this sauce.
- Let it gently bubble, uncovered, for the remaining 5 minutes, or until it’s reached your desired texture.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Try These Next
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- Chicken Scampi
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- Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits
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- Chicken Spaghetti
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- Zucchini Parmesan
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- Chicken Alfredo Bake
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- Chicken Caesar Pasta
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Did You Make This Recipe?
I would love for you to leave a rating and a comment below! How’d you do?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tomato Basil Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ lb. ground sausage, hot or sweet
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated and at room temp.
- 1 heaping Tablespoon cream cheese, at room temp.
- 3/4 pound refrigerated tortellini, see notes for other pasta options
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup firmly packed basil leaves, chiffonade
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the sausage, cook and crumble until brown and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Drain any grease from the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth and half and half. Increase heat and bring to a boil, then decrease heat to a simmer.
- Gradually sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese, whisking well to incorporate.
- Whisk in the cream cheese until incorporated. It melts smoothly when at room temperature.
- Add the tortellini and then the tomatoes. Stir gently to combine into the sauce.
- Let it bubble gently, uncovered, until cooked through. Refer to package for exact time frame, typically 4-7 minutes.
- Stir in the basil leaves and add the sausage back to the pan. Add red pepper flakes if desired.
- Turn off the heat. The sauce will continue to thicken upon standing.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Using Dry Pasta
The amount of liquid in this sauce is based upon using refrigerated pasta. Dry pasta requires more liquid and cooking time. To use dry pasta such as Penne or Farfalle:- Boil 3/4 pound of pasta separately for 5 minutes less than instructed on package.
- Drain and transfer to this sauce.
- Let it gently bubble, uncovered, for the remaining 5 minutes, or until it's reached your desired texture.
Other Substitutions Options:
- Ground turkey or beef may be used instead of sausage.
- Heavy cream may be used instead of half and half. I don't recommend milk as that can curdle during the cooking process and the sauce will be much thinner.
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes may also be used instead of cherry tomatoes.
- Up to 2 cups fresh spinach may be used instead of basil. Frozen spinach that's been thawed and drained works well too.
I used 4 cups spinach instead of basil and it was great. So much flavour.
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoyed this one with spinach Jacques, thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!😃
Made this with Turkey sausage, skim milk, and fat-free Half and Half. Very good! Will keep it in the rotation,
Great to hear, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and review!😃
I doubled the recipe. I didn’t have half & half or cream cheese so I used 8oz of sour cream. I also added minced shallots to the garlic saute’. We all loved recipe!
Happy to hear everyone loved the recipe Linda. Thanks for the review!😃
This is one of our new favorite recipes! Great for a weeknight or guests.
I’m so happy to hear that Ann! Thanks so much for the great review!❤️
I made this for a postpartum freezer meal (so technically I haven’t eaten it yet) but it smelled and looked so good and I couldn’t resist tasting the sauce 😍 my only question is if you have any suggestions for reheating from frozen? I’ve got it in a 9×13 aluminum pan so oven would be great. Maybe thaw overnight and bake @ 350 for 30 min?
Hey Jessica! I think reheating it after thawing it overnight is perfect, I would bake it covered and check after 30 minutes at 350 just like you said! If it needs a little longer, cover it back up and try 10-15 more minutes! 🙌🏻
Awesome recipe!! I used chicken breast tenderloins and spinach and gnocchi pasta. It was excellent and simple and tasty:)
Thank you for sharing
I am soo happy that those modifications worked well for you, I knew they would, such a great idea! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
can I use gnocchi instead of tortellini pasta and substitute sausage for chicken??
Absolutely, I love both of those modifications!
Love this recipe. We use andouille sausage for extra kick and flavor. It’s one of our favorite, go to dishes.
Hey Allyson! That sounds like a great variety of sausage to add to this dish, delicious!!
I double this when I make it because it freezes so well. Absolutely delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that Bobbie! One pot meals have been a life saver for me and it’s extra awesome when you can freeze a bunch! Thanks so much for taking the time to review!
Hi this recipe was great! I just wanted to know how much one serving was? I appreciate you adding the nutritional values, I just couldn’t find the specific measurement for a serving. Thank you so much!
Hey Haley, the nutritional info is based on four servings, so if you were to distribute this into 4 equal parts, each would be a serving. I know that’s not a weight or cup measurement but hopefully it helps!