No-Cook Fresh Sun Gold Tomato Pasta
This recipe for No-Cook Sun Gold Tomato Pasta takes just 6 simple ingredients and less than 20 minutes to make!
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Even year I count down the days until to tomato season so I can enjoy this pasta again. We grow tomatoes in our garden and I developed this recipe one year when we had a more than we knew what to do with. It works with any type of tomato, but there's something about those sweet sun golds that really makes it sing. If you, too, have a bumper crop of tomatoes, try my Easy Baked Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes, Heirloom Tomato Toasts with Feta + Herbs, or Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese and Fried Shallots!
Why this recipe works
- Easy, beginner friendly recipe - anyone can make this!
- No cook sauce - just boil the water and toss.
- Easily adaptable - use whatever tomatoes, pasta, herbs and cheese you have.
Essential Ingredients
- Sun Gold Tomatoes - These tiny orange cherry tomatoes are my favorite tomato of all time. They're incredibly sweet with the perfect amount of acidity and bursting with tomato flavor. Check farmer's markets and specialty produce markets for sun golds when in season, but if you can't get your hands on any just use the best, sweetest cherry tomatoes you can find.
- Pecorino Romano Cheese - It's important to use Pecorino Romano, not parmesan, for this recipe because it has a distinctly sharp and salty flavor that makes the pasta sing. I aways use Locatelli - most Italians agree that this is the best Pecorino Romano cheese available.
- Pasta - I typically use spaghetti, but you can use any type of long or short pasta that you prefer. For best results, look for a bronze die cut pasta, which is a higher quality and allows the sauce to more easily cling to each noodle.
Step by step instructions
- Bring a large pot of water up to a boil.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and Pecorino Romano cheese to a large bowl.
- Use the back of a spoon to mash the tomatoes and release their juices, then mix everything together until it forms a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Season the boiling water with a heavy pinch of salt, then cook the pasta until al dente (follow package directions - they vary).
- Scoop out a few cups of pasta water, then drain the pasta and immediately transfer it to the bowl of tomatoes.
- Toss it around vigorously, adding a few tablespoons of pasta water to help loosen it up. If it seems too watery, add a bit more cheese to thicken.
- Add the basil and continue tossing for another minute until it smells fragrant, the pasta is well coated and the sauce has a nice consistency.
- Serve immediately.
Tips for success
- Use room temperature tomatoes. Refrigerating tomatoes affects their texture and flavor, and cold tomatoes will cool the pasta down and prevent it from creating a sauce.
- It's important to salt the cooking water for the pasta, but not too much. Since it gets added to the pasta it could cause the sauce to become overly salty. A few big pinches will do.
- Because the sauce isn't cooked, it's important to toss and serve the pasta right away while it's still warm.
- Set a timer for the pasta 1 minute before the package directions say it will be done to avoid the noodles overcooking. When the timer goes off, test a noodle and drain as soon as it reaches the perfect al dente texture.
Faq about Sun Gold Tomato Pasta
Bronze die or bronze cut pasta refers to pasta that has been extruded through a bronze die, as opposed to a teflon coated die that is typically used for mass produced pastas. It's the more traditional way to make pasta in Italy. Teflon coated dies are now more commonly used because they are less expensive. Bronze die cut pasta is considered better because it has a slightly rougher, more porous texture that sauces can more easily cling to.
Yes! Simply cut the tomatoes into small pieces (about the same size as a halved cherry tomato) and proceed with the recipe. Large tomatoes will be more watery and less concentrated in flavor than cherry tomatoes, so use the best ones you can find. Your sauce might be a bit more liquidy but still totally delicious.
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No Cook Sun Gold Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 cups sun gold or other sweet cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1-2 cloves garlic finely minced or grated
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese plus more as needed
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- ½ lb long pasta like spaghetti or linguine
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil roughly chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water up to a boil.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and Pecorino Romano cheese to a large bowl.
- Use the back of a spoon to mash the tomatoes and release their juices, then mix everything together until it forms a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Season the boiling water with a heavy pinch of salt, then cook the pasta until al dente (follow package directions - they vary).
- Scoop out a few cups of pasta water, then drain the pasta and immediately transfer it to the bowl of tomatoes.
- Toss it around vigorously, adding a few tablespoons of pasta water to help loosen it up. If it seems too watery, add a bit more cheese to thicken.
- Add the basil and continue tossing for another minute until it smells fragrant, the pasta is well coated and the sauce has a nice consistency.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use room temperature tomatoes. Refrigerating tomatoes affects their texture and flavor, and cold tomatoes will cool the pasta down and prevent it from creating a sauce.
- It's important to salt the cooking water for the pasta, but not too much or it could cause the sauce to become overly salty since it gets added to the pasta. A few big pinches will do.
- Because the sauce isn't cooked, it's important to toss and serve the pasta right away while it's still warm.
- Set a timer for your pasta 1 minute before the package directions say it will be done to avoid the noodles overcooking. When the timer goes off, test a noodle and drain as soon as it reaches the perfect al dente texture.
Totally incredible, made almost exactly as recipe asks, just didn’t have a full Cup of Romano cheese so I only used about 2/3s-3/4 C, and I used about 1/3 C of virgin olive oil. Used our own sun gold tomatoes, our own garlic and our own basil! Just unbelievably incredibly tasty! Could not stop raving about it, and I NEVER rave about meals that I make!
I'm so glad you loved this recipe! I just made it two nights ago with sun golds, garlic and basil from my garden too and was reminded how delicious this pasta is. Isn't it great getting to use what you grew yourself?! Thanks for the comment 🙂
OMG best summer pasta recipe ever! I seriously wish I could make it all year long (I mean I guess I can, right? No one is stopping me). Nothings hits better than fresh, sweet sun golds with basil in butter and cheese. Best part, its so easy to make!
Isn't it the best?! Thanks Melissa!
This pasta is unreal. So easy and tastes incredible. I just made it last night and my husband is already asking for it again!!
I am very particular about pasta; I want not too much sauce and I want it to be slurped up by very thirsty al dente pasta with a 6c1a splash of reserved cooking water in the last minute before you eat it, so that they become as one. Guess what happened?
What happened?!
This looks so good! Tomato season is my favorite time of the whole year, and I'm always looking for new ways to use them - totally going to give this a try!
Awesome to know you're a tomato junkie like me! I hope you love it - report back!
Coley, I don't know what the larger gold tomatoes are called but they are low acidic and have been my favorite for awhile. Ramon and I have a lot of tomatoes; we love your recipes and I am sending a pic on your home page...xo
Hey Lo-Lo! There are tons of different yellow tomato varieties, and I love them all! I'm so glad you guys have been making my recipes! xo
Those little babies look too good to cook, anyway! I love the idea of squishing them up a bit for a super fresh pasta sauce. And just the right amount of cheese... Yum. p.s. what are you gonna do with those bananas? ????
I really do think they're so much better raw!! I'll be sending you a bunch of these babies in a few weeks, so keep this recipe bookmarked! As for the nanners... funny you ask! We usually just freeze them for smoothies when they get nice and ripe... but they found their way into a video right after I filmed this one, which quickly turned into a solid piece for the blooper reel. stay tunes!
I will definitely make this pasta if I don't devour them all like candy! Looking forward to the nanner video. I'm here for the food, but I stay for the bloopers!
Waah! Somehow I deleted the banana blooper. So frustrating technology can be. It wasn't that cool anyway. they basically just crumbled when I picked them up and went everywhere, haha. Womp womp!
Mmmmm! Deeee-lish!! Only one thing I might change (for hubby who has a difficult time in his belly with raw garlic and onions)... I'd probably use roasted garlic (a few extra cloves to add more flavor) and smoosh that into the whole thing. Otherwise... I'm so there!
YUM! I personally LOVE raw garlic, but I think the roasted would give it a totally different - but totally awesome! - flavor. Report back!