• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • All Recipes »
  • Most Popular »
    • 2-Banana Banana Bread
    • Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese
    • Extra Creamy Rice Pudding
    • Glazed Lemon Pound Cake Loaf
    • 15-Minute Udon Stir Fry
    • Multigrain Bread
    • Mango Salad
    • Pork Tenderloin Marsala
    • Homemade Baked Beans
    • Homemade Hamburger Buns
    • Carrot Cake Loaf
    • Classic Homemade Waffles
    • Authentic Poutine Recipe
  • SUBSCRIBE »
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
Seasons and Suppers logo
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes »
  • Most Popular »
    • 2-Banana Banana Bread
    • Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese
    • Creamy Rice Pudding
    • Glazed Lemon Pound Cake Loaf
    • 15-Minute Udon Stir Fry
    • Multigrain Bread
    • Mango Salad
    • Pork Tenderloin Marsala
    • Homemade Baked Beans
    • Homemade Hamburger Buns
    • Carrot Cake Loaf
    • Homemade Classic Waffles
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Main Course Recipes

    Pasta with Mascarpone and Blistered Tomatoes

    Apr 9, 2015 | by Jennifer | Last Updated: Jun 29, 2021

    Jump to Recipe

    This pasta with mascarpone and blistered tomatoes comes together quickly and easily, for a perfect weeknight meal.

    pasta with mascarpone and blistered tomatoes on white plate

    Sometimes dishes show up on our dinner table for the sole purpose of using up stuff in my fridge. In this case, I had a part carton of mascarpone in desperate need of a destination. Mascarpone is not cheap and I wasn't going to be wasting it. I also had some arugula. And a few tomatoes. So dinner was decided and it was delicious!

    This is a quick and easy pasta dish that comes together in about the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta. The tomatoes are quickly "blistered" by broiling in the oven. This only takes a few minutes. Angelhair pasta boils up in about 5 minutes, so it's quick, too. It all comes together in a hot skillet with the mascarpone and arugula for a quick toss to coat the pasta.

    Don't worry if you don't happen to have some leftover mascarpone to use up. I've included a quick and easy substitute, that uses cream cheese, cream and sour cream. You'll find it at the bottom of the recipe. As for the tomatoes, I happened to have roma tomatoes, but any tomato will do, including a carton of cherry tomatoes (would be pretty with red and yellow cherry tomatoes!)

    Cook's Notes

    The secret to this dish is salt and pepper. You need to season this dish well to really round out the flavours!

    My Three Top Tips for Delicious Pasta Dishes

    My pasta dish cooking technique has evolved over the years, to include a couple of techniques that I think produce the most satisfying pasta dishes ...

    1. Be sure to generously salt your pasta cooking water, to bring lots of flavour to your finished dish. It's adequately salted when it "tastes like the ocean".

    2. Rather than draining pasta in the sink, I scoop the cooked pasta right out of the boiling water with a spider strainer (or tongs, for long pasta) and put it directly into the hot sauce. Adding hot pasta to the sauce helps the pasta to absorb the flavours of the sauce more easily. It also allows for having the pasta-cooking water handy, in case you need to add some to thin your pasta sauce. Be sure to still drain the pasta well in the spoon before adding to the pasta, to avoid watering down your sauce.

    3. I always cook the pasta with the sauce in a hot skillet (or saucepan) for several minutes before serving. I've found that the perfect pasta dish needs to come together in a hot pan first, not in the serving bowl.

    Simply add the hot pasta to the hot sauce and cook, stirring, for just a couple of minutes. Take the time to taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, as needed, as well. If you sauce thickens or tightens up during this last short cooking, add a splash of your pasta cooking water to loosen it up.

    To make sure I don't dirty another pan, I always start my sauce in a large enough skillet or pot so that it will comfortably hold my cooked pasta as well, when it is cooked and ready to be added to the pot.

    Bonus Tip! For tomato-heavy sauces, stirring a small pat of butter into the tomato sauce at the end of cooking tempers the acidity in the sauce and rounds out the flavours.

    pasta with mascarpone and blistered tomatoes on white plate

    pasta with mascarpone and blistered tomatoes on white plate

    Pasta with Mascarpone and Blistered Tomatoes

    An quick, easy and delicious pasta dish, perfect for a weeknight meal.
    Author: Jennifer
    5 stars from 2 ratings
    Print it Pin it + Collection Go to Collections Share by Email
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Total Time 20 mins
    Course Main Course
    Servings 3 servings

    Ingredients
     

    • 3 servings angel hair or thin spaghetti pasta
    • 4 roma tomatoes, (or 3 regular tomatoes, or a carton of cherry tomatoes, if you like).
    • 1 Tbsp olive oil
    • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 1 Tbsp vodka, optional
    • 1/2 cup mascarpone*, see substitution below
    • 2 handfuls baby arugula
    • Shaved Parmesan
    • Salt and pepper
    Prevent screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat your oven broiler with a rack in the upper part of the oven. Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds and discard. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet, skin side up, and place under the broiler. Allow tomatoes to cook until skin is blistered and starting to char.
    • Meanwhile, boil a large pot of salted water for pasta.
    • Once tomatoes are charred, allow to cool slightly, then coarsely chop. Set aside.
    • In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until tender and fragrant. Add chopped tomatoes and vodka, if using. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, while you put the pasta on to cook. (If using angelhair pasta, it will take only a few minutes to cook!).
    • Once pasta is cooked, increase heat on skillet to medium. Add mascarpone, arugula and a good sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove pasta straight from boiling water to skillet with tongs. Toss to combine, adding a splash of pasta water if needed, to loosen. Remove from heat and stir in some shavings of Parmesan. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve garnished with additional shaved Parmesan.
    • *Substitute for the mascarpone in this recipe: 4 oz. (1/2 cucream cheese blended with 2 Tbsp. heavy cream and 1 Tbsp. sour cream.

    Notes

    *Mascarpone Substitute:Blend 8 ounces softened cream cheese with 1/4 cup whipping cream.
    Be sure to read the “Ingredient and Cook's Notes" (above the recipe card!), where I share more detailed  tips, variations and substitution suggestions for this recipe!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 451kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 382mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1530IU | Vitamin C: 14.3mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 1.2mg

    Nutritional information provided for general guidance only and should not be relied upon to make personal health decisions.

    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American, Canadian
    Never miss a new recipe!SIGN UP for email updates!
    PinShareTweetShares91

    Meet the Author:
    Hi! I'm Jennifer, a home-cook of many years and a lifelong seeker of delicious food! I'm an equal opportunity eater. I enjoy eating all the foods!

    I love to share the classic recipes that I have enjoyed for years, as well as newer discoveries, that have become fast favourites.
    More about me here ...


    Seasons and Suppers is honoured to have been featured on these great sites ...

    graphic showing sites Seasons and Suppers has been featured on

     

    Tried this Recipe?
    You can leave a Recipe Rating by simply clicking on the stars in the Recipe Card above or if you like, you can leave a Comment and Rating in the comment section below! It's always helpful for other cooks to hear feedback on a recipe from someone who has tried it!

    You don't need to use your full name or even your real name when leaving a comment. You just need to be a real person :) Your email address will never be publicly displayed or shared.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. aimelle says

      July 05, 2015 at 6:13 am

      5 stars
      I made this pasta for dinner 3 days ago and it was delicious ! all the flavours blended together so well, it looked really good (Italian flag food !) and though I feared the mascarpone would make the dish sort of heavy, that didn't happen at all. Now I'll only have to make it again when we have a pepper mill that actually works and we can be *really* generous with the pepper — we did our best but we have to hit and shake and hit and hit and shake the mill a billion times before it agrees to give us like half a teaspoon of pepper so … Thank you for the recipe !

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        July 05, 2015 at 8:21 am

        So glad you enjoyed it, Aimelle!

        Reply
    2. Tricia @ Saving room for dessert says

      May 17, 2015 at 8:57 am

      This is my kind of recipe - I could eat this everyday! Pinned!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        May 17, 2015 at 9:15 am

        Thanks so much, Tricia. Me, too :)

        Reply
    3. [email protected] says

      April 19, 2015 at 5:02 am

      This pasta is the ultimate comfort food! I could eat it every day of the week!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 19, 2015 at 8:22 am

        Thanks Julia and me, too! :)

        Reply
    4. Liz @ Floating Kitchen says

      April 10, 2015 at 8:14 pm

      Oh I love when a "clean out the fridge" meal turns into a show stopper. This looks great, Jennifer! I just love mascarpone. Glad it didn't go to waste!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 10, 2015 at 8:21 pm

        Thanks Liz. I've had some of my best meals from cleaning out the fridge!

        Reply
    5. Chris Scheuer says

      April 09, 2015 at 10:51 pm

      5 stars
      I'm not sure that what's in my fridge would end up anywhere near as delicious as this. It looks wonderful!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 10, 2015 at 6:27 am

        Thanks Chris. Having mascarpone to use up is always a good thing :)

        Reply
    6. sue|theviewfromgreatisland says

      April 09, 2015 at 9:07 pm

      I want to devour everything you make, Jennifer...this is so simple and incredibly delicious looking. I love what you say about the salt and pepper, it's so true!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 10, 2015 at 6:26 am

        Thanks Sue. It took me years to learn the secrets of a good salt and peppering :)

        Reply
    7. Laura (Tutti Dolci) says

      April 09, 2015 at 7:33 pm

      This is pasta perfection, what could be better than blistered tomatoes with mascarpone?!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 10, 2015 at 6:26 am

        Thanks Laura :)

        Reply
    8. Alexandra @ Confessions of a Bright-Eyed Baker says

      April 09, 2015 at 4:46 pm

      Such a stunning dish! I love arugula and just happen to have some mascarpone in the fridge waiting to be used, so I think this definitely needs to happen.

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 09, 2015 at 7:14 pm

        Thanks Alexandra. The mascarpone was great in the pasta. Lovely and creamy!

        Reply
    9. Jessica | A Happy Food Dance says

      April 09, 2015 at 11:12 am

      This is beautiful - some of my favorite creations are ones where you are trying to use up odds and ends in your fridge. I always seem to have arugula around too! Beautiful photos Jennifer!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 09, 2015 at 7:14 pm

        Thanks so much, Jessica. It was a great combination of flavours!

        Reply
    10. Sarah | Broma Bakery says

      April 09, 2015 at 10:29 am

      This is something I can so see on my family's dinner table. Sending this recipe to my mom and sister now!

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 09, 2015 at 10:31 am

        Thanks for sharing, Sarah :) It was delicious!

        Reply
    11. Meghan @ Cake 'n Knife says

      April 09, 2015 at 9:52 am

      Oh my goodness, this looks incredible!! I love the idea of adding arugula - totally making this soon.

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        April 09, 2015 at 10:26 am

        Thanks Meghan!

        Reply

    Add a Comment, Question or Review Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    “One of the best Food Blogs in Canada.” - National Post

    Hi! I'm Jennifer. Are you are looking for simple, seasonal and delicious everyday recipes? Do you love classic, homey, comforting food, but with a modern, real food update? Good! Me, too!

    Learn more about me here →

    Trending Recipes

    • Simply Perfect 2-Banana Banana Bread
    • Mango Salad with Zesty Lime Vinaigrette
    • Extra Creamy Rice Pudding
    • Glazed Lemon Pound Cake Loaf
    • 15 Minute Spicy Udon Stir Fry
    • Authentic Canadian Poutine Recipe

    Spring Recipe Collections

    • Rhubarb Recipes
    • Celebrating Citrus
    • Maple Recipes
    • Spring Favourites

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Explore

    • About
    • My Amazon Shop
    • YouTube Channel
    • My Web Stories
    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for free email updates of new posts and seasonal favourites from the recipe archives. It's sent just once a week and your email address is never shared or sold.

    Contact

    • Contact Me

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
    This site uses Cookies to provide the best user experience. Learn more in our Privacy Policy.

    Copyright © 2022 Seasons and Suppers. All Rights Reserved.