Skip to main content
Main

Rigatoni Pasta with Ricotta in Tomato Cream Sauce

A pasta dish of rigatoni simmered in a tomato cream sauce with ricotta, heavy cream, and Parmesan.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 16 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Rigatoni Pasta with Ricotta in Tomato Cream Sauce

Serves 6
Time11 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pasta

  1. Bring 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil in a large pot.

  2. Cook rigatoni pasta for 11 minutes (or until al dente), drain and set aside until needed.

Make the sauce

  1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.

  2. Heat oil in the same skillet.

  3. Lightly sauté onions and garlic cloves, don't brown. Cook onions and garlic about 5 minutes.

  4. Drain canned tomatoes, dice them, and add to the skillet with onions and garlic.

  5. Add tomato sauce, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Simmer for 20 minutes.

  6. Stir in ricotta cheese. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.

  7. Stir in heavy cream and sugar. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.

Combine and serve

  1. Remove from heat and add the sauce to the cooked rigatoni pasta. Mix well.

  2. Stir in chopped parsley.

  3. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the top. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

938Calories
33 gProtein
50 gFat
89 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 16 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Ricotta Cheese1/2 cup (124g) part-skim174
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Pasta + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,079 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ricotta cheese
Adds creaminess and body, thickening the sauce into a smooth, rich coating.
Heavy cream
Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a silky texture and mellowing the tomato.
Plum tomatoes
Provide the main tomato base, moisture and acidity for the sauce.
Onions
Build sweetness and savory depth as they soften in the oil and butter.
Rigatoni pasta
Provides the starchy base that holds the sauce in its ridges and tubes.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savory flavor and a sharp finish over the top.

The step that matters

Simmering the sauce after adding ricotta and cream. Ricotta and cream can separate or turn grainy if boiled hard, so keep the sauce at a gentle simmer once they go in.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pasta, olive, butter, onion, garlic, plum, tomato):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pasta, olive, butter, onion, garlic, plum, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesMacaroni and CheeseMacaroni and Cheese102 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipes