Bow Tie Pasta Recipe

A Quick & Creamy Bow Tie Pasta Recipe

Called ‘farfalle’ in Italian — which actually means butterfly, not bow tie — most of us call this kid-friendly pasta shape bow tie pasta. Fun to stab with a fork, and easy for little hands to pick up, our fast, creamy bow tie pasta recipe with fresh garlic and fragrant basil is an easy weeknight win. Like so many of our go-to quick pasta recipes — like our favorite Fusilli Pasta With Spicy Tomato Sauce, lovely Linguine With Lemon-Garlic Sauce, and our hearty Baked Rigatoni — this quick pasta comes together fast, but tastes rich and delicious.

Bow Tie Pasta Ingredients

• Bow tie pasta

• Canned crushed tomatoes

• Heavy cream

• Salt

• Italian seasoning

• Fresh basil

• Extra-virgin olive oil

• Fresh garlic

• Spinach

• Sun dried tomatoes

How To Make Bow Tie Pasta

1. Make the bow tie pasta sauce. Warm the olive oil and garlic in a pan. When you can smell the garlic, pour in the tomatoes, salt, Italian seasoning, and fresh basil. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes.

2. Cook the bow ties. Boil a large pot of salted water, and add the bow ties. Follow the instructions on the box but start checking for doneness a minute before the shortest cook time.

3. Before you strain the bow ties, save one cup of pasta cooking water. A Pyrex liquid measure is very helpful here — scoop the water you want to save, then strain the pasta.

4. Finish the sauce while the bow ties cook. Remove the basil, stir in heavy cream, spinach, and sundried tomatoes.

5. Stir in the bow tie noodles along with half of the pasta water.

6. Serve! To make a feast out of it, serve along with Broccolini, a big Italian Salad, and rich, buttery Garlic Bread on the side.

How To Store Leftover Pasta + Tips

• Leftover bow tie pasta will keep in an airtight container in in the fridge for up to 3 days, and — bonus — makes a great lunch. We don’t recommend freezing it.

• How long to cook bow tie pasta: Our go-to trick for making sure that we don’t accidentally over-cook pasta is to check for doneness one minute before the shortest cook time listed on the box. That’ll usually ensure that our bow ties are perfectly al dente.

• When you drain the bow tie pasta, don’t forget to save that pasta water! At least a cup, and maybe more! When you’re tossing the bow ties with the creamy sauce, if the sauce seems a little too thick, use a little pasta water to thin it out. Pasta water is better than regular water because it’s starchy and salty.

A Weeknight Farfalle Win!

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