Pink sauce pasta is one of those dishes that everybody loves. It’s quick and simple, it doesn’t require many ingredients, and it has a mild flavor appreciated by children and adults alike.
Here’s a simple recipe to make it in no time at all.
What is pink sauce?
On the web, the term “Italian pink sauce” is used to refer to a pasta dressing made with tomato puree, cooking cream or ricotta and other ingredients.
In Italy, on the other hand, the term salsa rosa (“pink sauce”) is mostly used to refer to cocktail sauce, which we usually make with ketchup, mustard, Cognac, Worcestershire sauce and mayo. In fact, that would be the first thing I’d think of when hearing that term.
How can you tell the difference? Well, most of the time you just need context. When talking about pasta, you can assume that nobody is going to put cocktail sauce on it. But if you want to be more specific, you can use terms like sugo in salsa rosa, or salsa rosa per pasta. Vice versa, if the subject is appetizers or dipping sauces for shrimps, salsa rosa definitely means cocktail sauce.
For clarification purposes, this post is about the pasta dressing, and from now on I’ll use “pink sauce” solely for it.
How does it taste like?
Italian pink sauce has a smooth consistency and a cheesy flavor that counterbalances the acidity of the tomatoes. This gives it a delicate flavor, which is enriched by the vegetables and the occasional addition of black pepper and grated parmesan cheese.
Ingredients: what is Italian pink sauce made of?
Italian pink sauce is made of just a handful of ingredients.
Tomato puree: get a good one from the grocery store, or make it yourself from some peeled plum tomatoes. Alternatively, if you have some leftover tomato paste, you can use it with a couple teaspoons of water.
Cooking cream: go with your favorite brand.
Onions and celery sticks: you’ll use them to make an Italian soffritto without carrots. It’ll be the flavor base of your pink sauce.
Extra-virgin olive oil: you’ll use it to grease the saucepan where you’ll make your sauce.
Fresh basil leaves, ground black pepper and a pinch of fine salt: to add some flavor.
This is all you need to make a delicious pink sauce. But since we’re doing a pasta recipe, you’re also going to need the following.
Gnocchi: pink sauce is often used with gnocchi, so I’m gonna go with that. For alternatives, check the FAQs below.
Coarse salt: you can use Kosher salt or try my wine-flavored salt recipe.
Grated parmesan cheese: to thicken the sauce and blend it better with the pasta at the end of the cooking process.
There’s a variant made with garlic cloves and ricotta instead of onions and cooking cream. Feel free to try both combinations and tell me which one you liked more in the comments! As per usual, the precise amounts of each ingredient are listed in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to make Italian pink sauce at home
Now, let’s make a simple pink sauce pasta recipe.
Step 1: fill a pot with ¾ water and put it on the stove right before step 1. This way, when the sauce is ready, the water will be already boiling.
Step 2: dice the onion and celery finely, like Chuck does in the video below.
Step 3: Sautee the vegetables in a saucepan with a little olive oil.
Step 4: When the onion starts to brown, add the tomato puree and let it simmer over low heat for about 8 minutes.
Step 5: Add the cooking cream, stir gently with a wooden spoon, and keep cooking for another 5 minutes.
Step 6: Add the ground black pepper and a pinch of salt.
Your pink sauce is ready. You can put it into some sterilized jars and store it in the refrigerator for 5-7 days, or you can use it right away. If you’re going for the second option, here’s a simple way to do it.
Step 7: Add the coarse salt to the boiling water, then cook the gnocchi for 1 minute less than the cooking time written on their box. Then, save a ladleful of cooking water and drain them.
Step 8: Add the pasta and the remaining cooking water, and stir for another minute over high heat.
Step 9: Add the grated parmesan cheese and the basil leaves, and stir for another 30 seconds.
Now, all you have to do is take the saucepan away from the heat, cover it with a lid for about 5 minutes, and then you can enjoy your pink sauce pasta.
What to serve with pink sauce pasta
This Italian pink sauce pasta recipe goes very well with second courses such as grilled chicken, chicken milanesa, pork sausages or meat skewers.
Alternatively, you can make garlic bread and use it to clean the dish of leftover sauce. This is called “fare la scarpetta” in Italy, and is considered rude in high-end places, but elitists don’t know what they are missing.
This recipe also goes well with many salads. Try making a caprese salad, it will be delicious.
Italian Pink Sauce FAQs
What’s the difference between pink sauce and vodka sauce?
The only difference is, well, vodka. Apart from that, they’re pretty much the same sauce. Chuck makes a delicious vodka sauce with chili pepper flakes, but if you don’t like spicy food you can just add 2 to 4 oz of vodka to the tomato sauce before adding the heavy cream.
Can you use whole milk instead of cream?
Sure, you can, but the result will be a little more liquid. In my opinion, using milk works better in recipes like Bolognese sauce.
Can I turn marinara sauce into pink sauce?
Sure you can! Just thicken it a little and use it instead of the tomato puree. It will taste delicious.
What pasta goes well with Italian pink sauce?
Aside from ridged penne, I would go with rigatoni or maccheroni, but you can also use ravioli, gnocchi, tortellini, pappardelle, tagliatelle, spaghetti or bucatini. Avoid thinner types of pasta, like angel hair. Pink pasta sauce has a nice, cheesy consistency, and it goes best with thick pasta shapes that don’t overcook easily.
If you’re using egg pasta, you can ignore the minutes rule I wrote above. Just toss it in the saucepan when it’s ready with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese and you’re good to go.
Recipe Card
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Italian pink sauce pasta
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
1 can of tomato puree
1 cup cooking cream
1 onion
1 celery stick
10 oz gnocchi
3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil to taste
Fresh basil leaves to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 pinch of fine salt
2 tbsp coarse salt
Instructions
- Fill a pot with ¾ water and put it on the stove right before step 1. This way, when the sauce is ready, the water will be already boiling.
- Dice the onion and celery finely, like Chuck does in the video below.
- Sautee the vegetables in a saucepan with a little olive oil.
- When the onion starts to brown, add the tomato puree and let it simmer over low heat for about 8 minutes.
- Add the cooking cream, stir gently with a wooden spoon, and keep cooking for another 5 minutes.
- Add the ground black pepper and a pinch of salt.
- Salt the boiling water and add the gnocchi, then cook them for 1 minute less than the cooking time written on their box. Save a ladleful of cooking water and drain the pasta.
- Add the pasta and the cooking water, and stir for another minute over high heat.
- Add the grated parmesan cheese and the basil leaves, and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: Italian
