Capellini Pomodoro Recipe (2024)

The best Capellini Pomodoro pasta bowl of all times. An easy, light and zesty sauce made with fresh tomatoes and basil. This simple, meatless, dairy free recipe is the absolute perfect weeknight dinner.

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Capellini Pomodoro

Thin angel hair style pasta (“little hairs” in Italian) coated in a luscious pomodoro sauce – afresh tomato sauce made from juicy cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and basil. Brightened up by a squeeze of fresh lemon juice this is the ultimate summer pasta bowl.

Pomodoro or pomo d’oro translates as “golden apple” since the original recipe made use of the abundant golden cherry tomatoes that looked like little apples.

No meat, no balsamic vinegar, no dairy and most definitely no canned tomatoes. If desired, salty capers or a good pinch of spicy red chili flakes can be added. Better than Olive Garden and Il Fornaio, you absolutely must make this pasta dinner!

Ingredients

• The Tomatoes -I love using a mix of sungold and red cherry varieties for their sweet flavor and thin skins. Stay away from grape tomatoes which are on the dryer side with tough skins and not suitable in this recipe. Using canned tomatoes would be a total disappointment, save those for slow simmered sauces like marinara, arrabiata or puttanesca.
• Capellini vs Angel Hair – they are pretty much the same thing friends (0.85mm to 0.92 mm thick noodles VS 0.78mm – 0.88 mm thick) as you can see we are literally splitting hairs, use whichever you have. The most important thing is that you don’t overcook the noodles!
• Garlic – use a microplane and grate all the garlic cloves into a paste. Add it to the hot oil and only cook until fragrant. You don’t want color but that perfect aroma that infuses the oil in the first 30 seconds, so take care not to burn it.
• Lemon – brightens up the sauce from all that garlic and balances the sweetness from the tomatoes with a little zest.
• Fresh Basil / Basilico – thinly sliced green ribbons not only make your pasta bowl look pretty but perfumes it with the loveliest of summer’s aromas.
• Chili flakes – make it spicy with a good pinch of red pepper flakes or enjoy as is.

how to make Italian capellini pomodoro e basilico

1. Start the pasta water and prep your tomatoes and garlic.
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Sir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook until they burst.
3. Hit it with freshly squeezed lemon juice and season to taste. Add the fresh basil.
4. Cook your capellini noodles just until al dente then transfer them directly into the pomodoro sauce. Toss to coat well and enjoy with fresh basil.

Italian Recipes