Creamy farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes
- Preparation 20 min
- Cooking 25 min
- Servings 6
- Freezing I do not suggest
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🍝 The weeknight dinner that tastes like an Italian restaurant
My creamy farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes is the kind of dish that makes you forget you’re in your kitchen on a Tuesday night. The fragrant oil from the sun-dried tomatoes infusing the onions, the orange bell pepper bringing its sweetness, the spinach wrapping itself in a creamy Grana Padano sauce. It’s a flavor bomb in 45 minutes flat. The smoked paprika adds that mysterious little touch that has everyone around the table wanting to know what your secret is.
🔥 Comforting Italian, zero fuss
This is the perfect dish when you’re craving Italian without pulling out nonna’s cookbook or spending three hours at the stove. The farfalle catch the creamy sauce in their little folds, each bite is a perfect combo of cream, concentrated tomatoes, and cheese. Serve it with a glass of Italian white, close your eyes for two seconds, and you’re teleported to Tuscany. Perfect for dinner with friends, a family meal, or just to treat yourself after a long day.
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🫒 Save the sun-dried tomato oil
The infused oil in the sun-dried tomato jar is liquid gold. It’s packed with concentrated flavors of tomatoes, herbs and garlic. NEVER throw this oil away — use it to cook your onions, drizzle over your pasta at the end, or save it to season a vinaigrette later in the week.
🧀 Grate your Grana Padano FRESH
Pre-shredded cheese in bags contains starch that prevents the sauce from becoming truly creamy. Buy a piece of Grana Padano and grate it yourself just before adding it to the sauce. The difference is so huge you’ll never go back to pre-shredded.
🍝 Al dente is non-negotiable
Cook the pasta 1 minute less than indicated on the package. They’ll continue cooking in the creamy sauce at the end and finish perfectly. Overcooked farfalle that become mushy in the sauce is absolute tragedy.
🌶️ Smoked paprika makes all the difference
NEVER skip this step thinking it’s just regular paprika. Smoked paprika brings an almost bacon-like depth that completely transforms the dish. You can find it in any grocery store in the spice aisle.
💧 Save pasta water
Before draining your farfalle, reserve a cup of cooking water. If your sauce becomes too thick when mixing the pasta, add a spoonful at a time until you reach the perfect texture. The starch in the water binds the sauce like a pro.
✅ What to serve with my creamy farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes?
My creamy farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes is a meal in itself, but for a true Italian feast, serve them with my Cheesy garlic bread — the perfect vehicle for soaking up every last bit of that creamy sauce — or my Crostini with white beer cheese, prosciutto and arugula as a starter to set the stage beautifully. For a fresh touch, add my Kale salad with quinoa, apple and goat cheese to perfectly balance the richness of the creamy pasta with its irresistible crunch.
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Ingredients
- 450 g (1 lb) farfalle pasta
- Olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 jar (280 ml) sun-dried tomatoes, drained (reserve the oil), finely chopped
- ½ orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 container (142 g / 5 oz) baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) white wine
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) smoked paprika
- 190 ml (¾ cup) 15% table cream
- 110 g (1 ¼ cups) finely grated Grana Padano cheese + extra for serving
- Fresh parsley, chopped (for serving)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
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Preparation
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta al dente following package instructions. Drain in a colander, drizzle with a thin stream of olive oil and toss. Set aside.
- In the same pot heated over medium heat, add the onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and about 2 tbsp of oil from their jar. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.
- Add the bell pepper and mix. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes to wilt.
- Add the white wine, Italian seasoning and smoked paprika, mix and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the cream and grated cheese, mix and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to melt the cheese.
- Add the pasta and drizzle with 2 to 3 tbsp of oil from the sun-dried tomato jar. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the farfalle well with sauce.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and Grana Padano cheese before serving.
Yes, but it’s really at its best fresh from the stove. You can prepare the sauce 24h in advance and keep it in the fridge. When ready to serve, reheat it gently with a little cream to loosen it, then add the freshly cooked pasta. Avoid mixing pasta and sauce in advance — the farfalle will absorb all the sauce and become dry.
Absolutely. 15% table cream is ideal because it stays stable under heat and provides just enough richness. You can replace it with 15% cooking cream, or for a more decadent version, 35% cream. Avoid sour cream which will curdle with the white wine, and avoid milk (too thin) which won’t create the creamy texture we’re looking for.
Farfalle (bow ties) are perfect because their folds hold the creamy sauce. If you don’t have any, use penne, rigatoni or orecchiette — all pasta shapes that have crevices to capture the sauce. Avoid flat pasta like linguine or spaghetti that slip and leave the sauce at the bottom of the plate.
Yes, it’s even an excellent base for improvising. Add diced grilled chicken (about 2 breasts), garlic-sautéed shrimp (500 g), or crumbled and browned Italian sausages (3-4 sausages). Cook the protein separately before assembling to maintain control over cooking, then add it when mixing the pasta with the sauce.
My creamy farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes is a main course in itself, but for a true Italian feast, serve it with my cheesy garlic bread which is the very definition of soaking up sauce like a pro, or my crostini with white beer cheese, prosciutto and arugula as a starter to set the table. For a fresh touch, serve my kale salad with quinoa, apple and goat cheese which perfectly balances the creamy richness of the pasta with its irresistible crunch.
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