Table of Contents
- Are you ready for a super smooth pasta dish?
- Everything you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Here’s how to make this recipe.
- These pro tips will make this recipe a success.
- Frequently asked questions about this recipe.
- You'll love these other pasta recipes.
- Watch how to make this recipe.
- Have I Convinced You to Make This Recipe?
- Sungold Tomato Pasta Bake Recipe
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This Sungold tomato pasta bake is a mixture of sweetness from the tomatoes with a bit of acidity. With a bit of roasted garlic and crunchy breadcrumb topping, this weeknight meal is a perfect way to use up an excess of cherry tomatoes. Make this once, and you’ll have a new favorite pasta dish!
Are you ready for a super smooth pasta dish?
At first glance, the pictures with this recipe may seem deceiving. They show what looks like a cheese sauce with noodles. Nothing revolutionary, right?
But guess what? The sauce contains no cheese! Instead, it’s mostly made from Sungold tomatoes. These small tomatoes are found at farmers’ markets and grocery stores. Or, if you happen to grow them, you may have too many. In either case, this recipe is for those who want a new, almost cheese-less option with plenty of flavor!
Once the tomatoes are roasted with garlic, they are puréed with a small amount of cream to form a sauce. The sauce has a slight acidity from the tomatoes but a good amount of sweetness from the tomatoes. This forms a well-rounded sauce, unlike any other tomato-based recipe.
Everything you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Sungold tomatoes have so much sweetness because they have a high level of sugar content. However, they have just the right level of acidity, as any tomato should, which makes them the perfect bite-sized tomato to use in this recipe.
- Garlic roasts with tomatoes. While roasting, the garlic caramelizes and becomes sweet with a deeper flavor.
- Olive oil will round out the flavors while adding a bit of extra richness to the dish. It also adds some fattiness, which is actually extremely important in driving home the flavors.
- Heavy cream is blended with the roasted tomatoes to form the sauce. If you want to leave it out, the sauce will still be delicious.
- Parmesan cheese is mixed with bread crumbs for a toasted topping. The parmesan adds just enough flavor to enhance the pasta without overpowering it.
- Rotini pasta has ridges in a swirl on each noodle that traps the sauce. Each bite will have a good sauce-to-noodle ratio.
Here’s how to make this recipe.
- Roast the tomatoes. To a 9×13 baking dish, add the tomatoes in a single, even layer. On top, sprinkle over the roughly chopped garlic cloves. Then drizzle on olive oil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Place the tomatoes in the oven and allow the heat to let them burst. Cook them at 375°F for 20 to 30 minutes. Once roasted, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool off slightly before blending.
- Prepare the pasta. To a large pot of water on the stovetop, add salt, which will season the pasta. Add in the pasta and cook it to al dente. Once cooked, remove from the heat and drain the pasta.
- Blend the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes have cooled slightly, add them to the canister of a blender. Add in the heavy cream and butter. Then blend up the entire mixture until it has a smooth, even consistency.
- Mix together the pasta and tomatoes. To the drained pasta, pour the smooth tomato mixture over the top. Mix the pasta and sauce together until evenly incorporated. Pour the mixture into the same baking dish that was used to roast the tomatoes. Smooth out the top to ensure there is an even layer of pasta.
- Prepare the bread crumb topping. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, and melted butter. Stir to combine all of the ingredients, then sprinkle on top of the pasta in the baking dish.
- Bake the pasta. Place the pasta in the oven and bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the top is bubbling, remove it and let it cool before serving.
These pro tips will make this recipe a success.
- There is no need to slice the tomatoes when roasting them. Since the mixture will be blended after the tomatoes have roasted and started to burst open, slicing them in half would simply be an unnecessary extra step.
- When blending a hot mixture in a blender, keep the vent on top somewhat ajar. This will allow the steam to escape as the mixture is blending, which is super important. If the heat is trapped inside the container, it could build up too much pressure.
- Make sure to cook the pasta to al dente. Since this pasta will be baked in the oven once the tomato sauce is poured on top, there will be additional time for the pasta to soften.
Frequently asked questions about this recipe.
Yes, you can use other varieties of small tomatoes, but the type of tomato will change the sauce’s flavor. Sungolds have a high sugar content and balance out the sauce well.
No, this recipe uses small tomatoes with less water content. Large tomatoes have varying amounts of water and seeds that will change the outcome of the sauce.
Yes, a food processor can be used, but a blender definitely creates a smoother consistency in the tomatoes.
Yes, the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese are optional. The cream adds richness, and the Parmesan adds flavor, but the sauce is equally delicious without them.
Use whatever bread you happen to have on hand. The bread crumbs are just for texture and are flavored with butter and Parmesan cheese.
This is a great dish to make if you love leftovers. This will easily keep for 10 days in the refrigerator. You can also freeze portions of the leftovers to use at a later date.
Yes, the recipe can be prepared to the point where the bread crumbs are added on top. Instead of placing it in the oven, wrap it tightly and freeze it. Allow the dish to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and warm in the oven before serving.
You’ll love these other pasta recipes.
- Fresh tomato herb pasta
- Tomato zucchini summer pasta
- Spicy peanut noodles
- Brown butter spaghetti with bacon and asparagus
- Creamy sausage and spinach pasta
- Meatballs with spaghetti
- Baked rotini casserole
- Sausage and butternut squash pasta
- Orecchiette with pea pesto sauce
Watch how to make this recipe.
More weeknight meals to try
Herb Crusted Baked Halibut
Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Weeknight Spinach & Sausage Pasta
Have I Convinced You to Make This Recipe?
I hope you make this recipe and put some food on your table. Leave a comment and share a star rating so you can let others know how much you love this recipe. This helps show others that this is a recipe they, too, can make, enjoy, and love!
Sungold Tomato Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 2 lb Sungold tomatoes
- 8 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 lb rotini pasta
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
For the breadcrumb topping
- 1 ½ cups fresh breadcrumbs
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Pour the tomatoes into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Remove the husk from the garlic cloves, roughly chop, and add the garlic to the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Roast in the preheated oven until the tomatoes are split, and the juices are bubbling, 20-30 minutes.8 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, ¾ tsp kosher salt, ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, ½ tsp red pepper flakes, 2 lb Sungold tomatoes
- While the tomatoes are roasting, prepare the pasta. Bring water to a boil following the instructions on the pasta. Once the water is boiling, add salt and the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente. Once al dente, quickly drain the pasta. Do not worry about getting all the cooking water off. Leave the pasta dripping.1 lb rotini pasta
- Once the tomatoes are roasted, pour them into a blender canister. Add the heavy cream and butter. Blend on high until the sauce is smooth. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Pour the pasta into the already-used baking dish.½ cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- In a medium bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and melted butter. Sprinkle the prepared crumbs over the pasta.1 ½ cups fresh breadcrumbs, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- Return to the 375°F oven and bake until the pasta is warmed through and the crumbs are toasted, 15-20 minutes.
Notes
- There is no need to slice the tomatoes when roasting them. Since the mixture will be blended after the tomatoes have roasted and started to burst open, slicing them in half would simply be an unnecessary extra step.
- When blending a hot mixture in a blender, keep the vent on top somewhat ajar. This will allow the steam to escape as the mixture is blending, which is super important. If the heat is trapped inside the container, it could build up too much pressure.
- Make sure to cook the pasta to al dente. Since this pasta will be baked in the oven once the tomato sauce is poured on top, there will be additional time for the pasta to soften.
EXCELLENT use of all the extra sungold tomatoes! Kind of like a grown up mac’n’cheese, so my husband loved it. Easy to prep for a quick dinner. Would also be great with shredded chicken or pork!
So, so delicious! We were fighting over who gets the leftovers tomorrow!
I love all your videos, recipes and especially…YOU😍🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
This sauce is amazing! I mixed in some sautéed shrimp and made it a full meal. I think I used to many bread crumbs but it was still delicious!
I made this for dinner tonight, using red cherry tomatoes, and canned evaporated milk in place of the heavy cream. I added some fresh basil leaves.
And since I can’t eat garlic, I used fresh shallots. Delicious!
Made this with sun golds from my garden — delicious! I added shredded roasted chicken — family loved it! Served with baked squash, also from my garden. We will be making this dish again!
The flavor of the sauce is great (& I only had ½ oro gold tomatoes, with red cherry & grape tomatoes for the other half). But the bread crumbs really dried the whole thing out. I’d skip them next time & roast it with only Parmesan & a little olive oil on top. Maybe with all gold tomatoes it’s juicier, but I still don’t think bread crumbs are a good addition.