This easy recipe for pasta with Brie and tomatoes is a summertime classic, full of the flavors of cheese and basil and sweet tomato! The heat of the pasta melts the cheese into a light sauce that will have them clamoring for seconds.
This is my favorite summer recipe EVER. It is adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook — that first one that everyone bought back in the 1980’s when this wonderful series of cookbooks first appeared. If yours is like mine, the binding is cracked and the pages are falling out and you can’t get a new one because you have all these notes and memories marked on the pages, and sentimental splotches of meals gone by staining the pages…and I STILL haven’t made everything I want to make out of this classic cookbook.
But I have made this one, probably 50 times over the years, because it is simple and gorgeous and tastes like heaven on a summertime plate. Let’s make it!
You do have use really great fresh ingredients to make it work. Really good basil, which I have more than I can use right outside my back door, so if you need any PLEASE come on over and pick some!
Really good olive oil. Fresh ripe local tomatos. A really nice wedge of Brie – a soft creamy one, not too hard. There is a variety of Brie called D’Affinois that will make you close your eyes in bliss if you can find it — ask wherever you go to get good cheese.
And the pasta of your choice. I usually use linguine, but a short round pasta like rigatoni would work, or even bow-ties. Fresh garlic. Fresh ground pepper. And unlike most things that I make, this is not one that should be rushed — the assembly is speedy, but the ingredients need to marinate and blend for maximum effect.
So first, get out a nice big shallow bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup of olive oil in it. Chop up a clove or two of garlic, depending on how much of a garlic fan you are, and add them to the oil.
Now take about 3 large tomatos and chop them up as well — bite-size chunks — and drop them in as well. Cut the rind off the Brie (this is best done when it is right out the fridge) and tear the cheese into small chunks. Into the bowl it goes.
This easy recipe for pasta with Brie and tomatoes is a summertime classic, full of the flavors of cheese and basil and sweet tomato! Next, chop up a good amount of that fresh basil and add to the bowl with everything else. Last of all, grind a few twists of fresh pepper into the whole thing. By now you have a gorgeous mixture that is making your kitchen smell unbelievably good.
Now comes the hard part — lay a dish towel lightly over the top of the bowl…and go away for at least an hour. We must MARINATE. Let all those delicious components soak together and blend. An hour is the minimum. I have made this at lunchtime and left it on the counter until dinner, with strict warnings all around not to TOUCH it.
When you are ready to serve it up, cook whatever pasta you are using in salted water until it is done. Drain it and then pour it into the bowl and lightly toss it all together, and here is the most beautiful part: the heat of the cooked pasta will melt the cheese and it will all form the most delicious sauce you have ever tasted in your life. You have my solemn word on this.
So there you go — my favorite pasta recipe in the world. Enjoy!
PrintPasta with Brie and Tomatoes
This easy recipe for pasta with Brie and tomatoes is a summertime classic, full of the flavors of cheese and basil and sweet tomato!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2–3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2–3 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 6–8 ounces Brie cheese, rind removed and torn into pieces
- 1/2 cup basil, chopped
- Fresh ground pepper
- 8 ounces pasta (I like linguine for this recipe, but any shape will do)
Instructions
- Pour oil into a large bowl, and add garlic, tomatoes, cheese, basil and a grinding of fresh pepper. Cover with a dish towel and let marinate for at least an hour.
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain and add to the bowl. Toss everything with tongs until the cheese has just started to melt.
- Divide among bowls and serve at once. Twirl around your fork. Be very happy.
AmandaDawn says
Mmhh. I just had alfredo pasta last night with scallops. My alfredo was chunky and a little life-less. So I ventured over to PW’s website to see how to make it better. Natch it lead me to you. . . and I want to try THIS pasta tonight. But it will have to wait a while. Like until I run a marathon to burn off the pasta from last night. But your marinated pasta is sooo on the Hit list next. :)
FramedCooks says
so glad you liked it! I think I am making it next week…my basil is calling out to me!
FramedCooks says
so glad you liked it! I think I am making it next week…my basil is calling out to me!
Anonymous says
I came across this recipe a few days ago and book marked it as something I wanted to try sooner rather than later. I made a run to the grocery store last night, but was unable to find the D’Affinois brie you suggested. I settled on one of the more available brands but when I couldn’t find any fresh basil I decided to try again tomorrow.
BOY, am I glad I did. Firstly, you’ve ruined all other brie for me with the D’Affinois. This is the most delicious brie I’ve ever tasted. Secondly, the way the brie and olive oil and other ingredients combine to make this delicious sauce is divine. I am already excited to share it with friends and family and it’ll be a miracle if I don’t whip it up 50 more times this summer alone!
Anonymous says
I came across this recipe a few days ago and book marked it as something I wanted to try sooner rather than later. I made a run to the grocery store last night, but was unable to find the D’Affinois brie you suggested. I settled on one of the more available brands but when I couldn’t find any fresh basil I decided to try again tomorrow.
BOY, am I glad I did. Firstly, you’ve ruined all other brie for me with the D’Affinois. This is the most delicious brie I’ve ever tasted. Secondly, the way the brie and olive oil and other ingredients combine to make this delicious sauce is divine. I am already excited to share it with friends and family and it’ll be a miracle if I don’t whip it up 50 more times this summer alone!
Kim says
very good. my tomatoes were store bought but it still tasted very good. will definitely try it again…hopefully when the great tomatoes are back.
Kim says
very good. my tomatoes were store bought but it still tasted very good. will definitely try it again…hopefully when the great tomatoes are back.
Martin says
Hi Kate,I googled for “pasta + Brie” – since I had a big wedge of Brie in the fridge – and found your blog. Tried your recipe at once: Brilliant.Thank you so much!Martin
Martin says
Hi Kate,I googled for “pasta + Brie” – since I had a big wedge of Brie in the fridge – and found your blog. Tried your recipe at once: Brilliant.Thank you so much!Martin
Anonymous says
Kate,
This was just the most delicious pasta I’ve ever had. Thank you.
I can’t wait to make it again.
The left-over was my lunch the following day, and let me tell you, it only got better overnight. In fact, I’ll leave it to marinate for more than an hour next time maybe even half a day if I can resist somehow.
Everyone, please try this!
Anonymous says
Kate,
This was just the most delicious pasta I’ve ever had. Thank you.
I can’t wait to make it again.
The left-over was my lunch the following day, and let me tell you, it only got better overnight. In fact, I’ll leave it to marinate for more than an hour next time maybe even half a day if I can resist somehow.
Everyone, please try this!
Kate Morgan Jackson says
Thanks so much for your nice words! And I am glad you found some recipes that will work for you. The one I posted tonight would probably do just fine without the garlic, and if you can’t have cooked tomatoes I would try chopping them raw and adding them at the very end. Meantime, I would LOVE the skillet mac and cheese recipe — you can email me at [email protected] and I will give it a try for sure!
Kate Morgan Jackson says
Thanks so much for your nice words! And I am glad you found some recipes that will work for you. The one I posted tonight would probably do just fine without the garlic, and if you can’t have cooked tomatoes I would try chopping them raw and adding them at the very end. Meantime, I would LOVE the skillet mac and cheese recipe — you can email me at [email protected] and I will give it a try for sure!
Mamadallama says
Visiting you from PW’s site after I saw your comment about this dish. It sure does sound and look divine. Better than the alfredo in my book. I’ll be trying this. I have looked around your site a bit and found some wonderful recipes that I will be making. I’m especially interested in the fact that several of your pasta recipes do not include garlic or onions. I have a severe heartburn problem and have a very restricted diet. No cooked tomatoes, no garlic, onion, citrus, acids…pretty dull. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your recipes. I do have a really great skillet mac n cheese recipe but cannot find the original site. If you would like it, please let me know.
Mamadallama says
Visiting you from PW’s site after I saw your comment about this dish. It sure does sound and look divine. Better than the alfredo in my book. I’ll be trying this. I have looked around your site a bit and found some wonderful recipes that I will be making. I’m especially interested in the fact that several of your pasta recipes do not include garlic or onions. I have a severe heartburn problem and have a very restricted diet. No cooked tomatoes, no garlic, onion, citrus, acids…pretty dull. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your recipes. I do have a really great skillet mac n cheese recipe but cannot find the original site. If you would like it, please let me know.