Creamy Golden Tomato & Basil Summer Bucatini

Published by

Jasmine

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I felt like I couldn’t call this ‘summer cacio e pepe’ because it has butter and it’s way too fussy, but really; it’s kind of like that! This is a creamy pasta with bucatini, fresh basil, pink peppercorns, burrata and a hint of tomato…

INGREDIENTS

Pasta:

Bucatini (can be substituted with spaghetti or linguine – it just needs to be a high-quality bronze die cut pasta)

Sauce:

Butter

Garlic

Golden cherry tomatoes

Pecorino (or any other Italian hard cheese / rennet-free alternative)

Toppings:

Extra-virgin olive oil

Fresh basil

Pink peppercorns

Burrata

TIPS

There is a little bit of technique to this dish, but the butter makes it easier than the tricky Cacio e Pepe. To get a silky smooth sauce, it’s important to remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese gradually (and a little of pasta water with each batch) and to stir vigorously and agitate the pan as much as possible to get it to melt and not clump up. A couple of clumps isn’t the end of the world; just pick them out!

Creamy Golden Tomato & Basil Summer Bucatini

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

A summery take on creamy pasta

Blender and sieve required, no advance prep needed 




Ingredients

    
 *
150g of bucatini
  • 2 cloves of garlic (chopped, pressed or grated)
  • 120g of golden cherry tomatoes
  • 50g of Pecorino cheese (finely grated)
  • 1 tbsp of pink peppercorns
  • 1/8 of a cup of extra-virgin olive oil (+ extra for cooking)
  • 10g of fresh basil
  • 1 tbsp of butter
  • Salt to taste



Directions

    

  1. Boil the kettle 

  2. Set aside a little basil for topping, and use a food processor to break down the rest
  3. Add the olive oil to a small pan over the lowest heat possible and add the processed basil – simmer for 15 minutes or until the oil is infused and a brighter green colour
  4. Toast the pink peppercorns for a couple of minutes over a medium heat until the aroma is released – use a mortar and pestle or food processor to crush them up
  5. In a wide-based lidded pan over a medium heat, add a drizzle of olive and sauté the garlic until fragrant (a couple of minutes), salt to taste and add the tomatoes and most of the pink peppercorns (save a little to garnish with), cover and cook for 5-7 minutes
  6. Bring the water to a rolling boil over a medium heat and salt generously (don’t add too much water – just enough for the amount of pasta so it’s nice and starchy) then add the pasta to the water pot and cook al dente (usually 2 minutes less than the pack instructions) and stir regularly so it doesn’t stick together
  7. The tomatoes should have softened up by now, so use a wooden spoon to carefully press them down so they ‘burst’ and cook for a further 2 minutes
  8. Blend the garlic tomatoes up until smooth
  9. Once the pasta is cooked al dente (do *not* drain away the pasta water), in a large, wide-based pan, melt the butter over a medium heat pass the tomatoes through the sieve to remove seeds and skins – stir this in with the melted butter, add the pasta and allow them to cook together for a couple of minutes
  10. Turn off the heat and add a little of the hard cheese and a little pasta water, stir and toss the pasta vigorously to melt the cheese – repeat this process several times until the cheese is melted and you have a smooth, creamy sauce
  11. Dish up the pasta and garnish with the basil infused oil, the reserved basil and pink peppercorns and the burrata
    12. 


Let me know if you try my take on a creamy pasta with a summery twist!

See my method here:

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