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This garlicky pasta with burst cherry tomatoes, burrata and basil is easy to make in less than 30 minutes with just a few simple ingredients, and tastes absolutely divine!
New favorite summer pasta, right here! ♡♡♡
Like seriously, it is taking all of our willpower not to cook up a big batch of this pasta every single night of the week right now. It is ultra-quick and easy to make with a simple list of ingredients. But oh my goodness, it is outrageously good.
We’re talkin’ lots of the summer’s best cherry tomatoes, briefly simmered with garlic and butter until they burst into a rich tomato sauce. Then in with the sauce, we will toss a generous helping of chewy pasta (we’re on a major bucatini kick this year), a few handfuls of fresh basil, and some toasty pine nuts for a bit of crunch. But the ingredient that turns this simple pasta into a total showstopper is — of course — that burrata. It magically melts into the most luxurious cream sauce that perfectly coats the pasta, yet still leaves a few bonus melty cheese puddles in there for you to enjoy too.
I already know you guys are going to love this one. So add some fresh burrata to your shopping cart at the market this week and let’s make a batch together!
Garlicky Pasta Ingredients:
Before we get to the recipe below, a few quick notes on the ingredients you will need to make this pasta:
Pasta: I recommend a noodle-shaped pasta for this recipe, but really, any type of pasta will do. (We used bucatini.)
Butter or olive oil: To form the base of our sauce.
Cherry tomatoes: Any color or variety of cherry (or grape) tomatoes will do.
Garlic: I like to just lightly-smash and sauté the garlic for this sauce, and then discard the cloves just before serving. But if you prefer to leave them in the sauce, you are welcome to mince or press the garlic instead.
Sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper: To season the tomato sauce, plus I like to finish each serving bowl with a generous crack of black pepper.
Burrata: One large ball of fresh burrata, which we will roughly tear into a pieces and then melt into the pasta.
Fresh basil: I recommend adding lots and lots of fresh basil to this pasta!
Pine nuts: And finally, I love adding some toasted pine nuts to this recipe. Their rich buttery flavor and touch of crunch add the perfect finishing tough. But if you have a nut allergy, feel free to omit them — the pasta will still be great on its own!
How To Make This Pasta:
This pasta comes together so quickly and easily! To make it, simply…
Cook the pasta (almost) al dente. We want to cook the pasta just shy of al dente, because it will finish cooking in the tomato sauce in Step 3. As always, be sure to very generously salt your pasta water too!
Cook the tomatoes. While the pasta is cooking, we will sauté the tomatoes and garlic in butter (or olive oil) until they soften and burst into a rich and bubbly tomato sauce. Remove and discard the garlic cloves, season the sauce with salt and pepper, and then it will be ready to go!
Toss everything together. Once the pasta is nearly al dente, use kitchen tongs to transfer the pasta directly into the tomato sauce and toss briefly to combine. Then add the burrata (torn into a few pieces), basil, 1/3 cup of the toasted pine nuts and 1/2 cup of the hot starchy pasta water to the pasta, and toss until combined. If the pasta seems at all dry, feel free to add in more of the starchy pasta water.
Serve. Then dish up your servings right away so that the cheese will stay nice and gooey, sprinkle with pine nuts and some extra cracked black pepper, and enjoy!
Possible Variations:
I really love keeping this recipe simple. But there are, of course, plenty of ways that you could mix things up if you would like! For example, feel free to…
Add Parmesan: Never a bad idea with pasta. ♡
Add pesto: A few big spoonfuls of fresh basil pesto would also be delicious mixed into this salad (in place of the basil).
Add extra veggies: Feel free to add any extra grilled/roasted/sautéed veggies that you would like too! For example, asparagus, eggplant, red bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms or broccoli would be delicious.
Add a protein: Cooked chicken or shrimp would be delicious mixed into this pasta.
Make it gluten-free: Just use your favorite gluten-free pasta.
More Favorite Pasta Recipes:
Looking for more cheesy pasta recipes? Here are a few of my faves…
This garlicky pasta with burst cherry tomatoes, burrata and basil is easy to make in less than 30 minutes with just a few simple ingredients, and tastes absolutely divine!
Cook the pasta (almost) al dente. Bring a large pot of generously-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until 1 minute shy of al dente.
Cook the tomatoes. Meanwhile, as soon as you add the pasta to the boiling water, begin cooking your tomato sauce. Melt the butter (or olive oil) in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to burst and release their juices to form a sauce. Reduce heat to low, season with salt and pepper to taste (I added a generous pinch or two of each), then remove and discard the smashed garlic. Let the tomato sauce continue cooking on low until the pasta is ready to go.
Toss everything together. Once the pasta is nearly al dente, use kitchen tongs to transfer the pasta directly into the tomato sauce and toss briefly to combine. Tear the ball of burrata into 6 or 8 rough pieces (I recommend doing this directly over the pasta, so that any cream that escapes falls into the dish). Then add the burrata, basil, 1/3 cup of the toasted pine nuts and 1/2 cup of the hot starchy pasta water to the pasta. Toss until the pasta is evenly combined and al dente. If the pasta seems too dry, just mix in more starchy pasta water as needed.
Serve. Dish your servings up immediately while the pasta is hot and the cheese is still gooey. Sprinkle each serving with the remaining pine nuts and enjoy!
Great recipe. Very easy and goes together very easily. Only problem I had was getting the burrata to melt evenly and fully. Maybe that’s the nature of mozzarella; it stays stringy, like on pizza.
I couldn’t get burrata so I used Pene Rigate, which worked out fine
I also used a masher to crush down the tomatoes once they had burst.
Made this for my husband’s family this weekend and it was a huge hit! The kitchen smelled amazing as I was cooking the tomatoes and garlic and the whole thing was very easy. Could not find bucatini at three different stores, but spaghetti worked well. Thank you, Ali!
This was great! I used my garden tomatoes and basil, and used mozzarella and parmesan I had in the fridge. Also subbed in your pesto recipe for basil/pine nuts. Definitely easy and delicious.
I made this for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious. I grilled some shrimp to go with it. I will make this many time this summer, thanks for the great recipe.
This was surprisingly tasty for how simple the recipe is!
I used mozza just because I’m pregnant, but even still, the tomato and garlic sauce was super flavourful on its own. I’ll be trying it with burrata as soon as I can :)
Holy cow! This is absolutely delicious. Used multicolored cherry and grape tomatoes and instead of cloves of garlic, I used minced and left it in the pan. Also used 1 T of butter and 1 T of olive oil. Will now be in regular rotation this summer as my tomatoes ripen. WOW! Will also try with grilled shrimp and grilled chicken.
What would you recommend as a substitute if I can’t find burrata?
it was delicious!..i used shirataki fettuccine,,,,so fresh…added red pepper flakes left out nuts……..would make again
Great recipe. Very easy and goes together very easily. Only problem I had was getting the burrata to melt evenly and fully. Maybe that’s the nature of mozzarella; it stays stringy, like on pizza.
I couldn’t get burrata so I used Pene Rigate, which worked out fine
I also used a masher to crush down the tomatoes once they had burst.
I will make this again.
I am making this on Sunday, it looks amazing!! T
Delicious! Will make again
Made this for my husband’s family this weekend and it was a huge hit! The kitchen smelled amazing as I was cooking the tomatoes and garlic and the whole thing was very easy. Could not find bucatini at three different stores, but spaghetti worked well. Thank you, Ali!
This was great! I used my garden tomatoes and basil, and used mozzarella and parmesan I had in the fridge. Also subbed in your pesto recipe for basil/pine nuts. Definitely easy and delicious.
Loved this and so did my meat eating husband. He asked me to keep this recipe and make it again soon. Added 1/4 teaspoon sugar to tomatoes.
I made this for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious. I grilled some shrimp to go with it. I will make this many time this summer, thanks for the great recipe.
I just made this for dinner. It was fantastic. I will definitely make it again.
If you added other veggies, like broccoli, when would you add them in/how would you cook them?
One of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had, let alone cooked myself!
It tasted amazing! I just didn’t use pine nuts.
This was surprisingly tasty for how simple the recipe is!
I used mozza just because I’m pregnant, but even still, the tomato and garlic sauce was super flavourful on its own. I’ll be trying it with burrata as soon as I can :)
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It really was quick and easy to make yet SOOOO delicious!
Holy crap! One of the BEST pasta dishes I’ve ever had…and one of the easiest. Definitely keeping this in my rotation
Excellent. Except don’t put your husband in charge of toasting the pine nuts. LOL Charred pine nuts just don’t have the same taste.
Holy cow! This is absolutely delicious. Used multicolored cherry and grape tomatoes and instead of cloves of garlic, I used minced and left it in the pan. Also used 1 T of butter and 1 T of olive oil. Will now be in regular rotation this summer as my tomatoes ripen. WOW! Will also try with grilled shrimp and grilled chicken.
Simple and delish. Recommend and will make again.