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Home » Recipes » Food

Published: Mar 29, 2023, By: Melissa, Updated: Oct 15, 2023

Checca Sauce (Italian No-Cook Tomato Sauce)

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Checca sauce is a no-cook Italian sauce that is served over pasta. This simple sauce has tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, and herbs and it is so easy to make.

pasta alla checca 2

When the weather starts to get warmer, I am not ready to give up on my pasta dishes and apparently neither are the Italians all over Italy! To make sure they can enjoy pasta all year, they came up with this no-cook tomato sauce called alla checca. They add it to their favorite pasta and I promise, it is just as good as a classic pasta sauce.

Pasta all checca takes advantage of the fresh in-season tomatoes and herbs and marries them with delicious Italian olive oil and cheese. It is so fresh and light and the perfect summertime meal!

This pasta all Checca is one of my go-to summer pasta recipes that I always make because it makes use of summer fruits and veggies. If I am not making this, I will be making my Caprese pasta salad, veggie meat sauce (with in-season veggies), Asian pasta salad (which is so fresh and light), or pesto pasta.

Fresh summer flavor should be put to good use and this Checca sauce does just that!

Pasta all checca can be served cold or at room temperature.

What You Will Need

Checca sauce is so simple to make because there is no cooking other than the pasta. The key to a really good Checca sauce is to add everything to one bowl and give the ingredients a little time to sit together so all the flavors marry together.

Here is what you need:

checca sauce ingredients
  • Fresh tomatoes. When making a Checca sauce, finding the freshest tomatoes you can is so important.
  • Fresh basil. This is a classic Italian combination with tomatoes and really makes the Checca sauce delicious.
  • Garlic. Like all the other recipe ingredients, you want to use fresh garlic.
  • Fresh herbs. I love adding some fresh Italian parsley and garlic chives to my Checca sauce because I grow that in my garden and it adds more freshness to the sauce. This is optional.
  • Olives. Olives add a nice briny salty bite to the checca sauce. This is optional too but if you have them, use them!
  • Olive oil. Olive oil is the base of the sauce and will bind all of the ingredients together.
  • Kosher salt and pepper.
  • Fresh Parmigiano Reggiano. For topping the pasta alla checca.
  • Pasta.

How to make checca sauce

Making this Checca sauce could not be any simpler. Here is what it looks like to make the Checca sauce and add it to pasta for pasta all Checca:

checca sauce ingredients in a bowl
1. Add checca sauce ingredients to a large bowl.
cooking pasta for pasta alla checca
2. Cook pasta
  • You are going to start off by prepping and chopping all of the ingredients for the Checca sauce. Once you do that, just add them to a large bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well.
  • I like to let the Checca sauce ingredients sit together for about 30 minutes but you do not need to let it sit for that long if you are short on time. After you prepare the checca sauce all you have to do is cook your pasta to al dente and then drain it.
  • Add the hot pasta to the bowl with the Checca sauce and toss well. Once the pasta hits the fresh Checca sauce it will cool off the pasta and it will be at room temperature.
  • You can either serve it immediately this way or allow it to cool completely and chill it and serve it cold.
  • Do not forget to serve the pasta alla checca with copious amounts of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on the side so people can add that to their pasta.

TIP: Checca sauce can be added to pasta like I did here but it can also be served on its own and used as a topping for garlic crostini, homemade flatbread, or any other good crusty bread.

pasta alla checca in bowls on the table

Variations

This pasta alla checca is perfect the way it is but it is meant to be customized based on what is fresh. This is how the Italians do it and so should you.

Here are some variations:

  • Use fresh cubed mozzarella instead of the Parmesan. Many Italians like to make pasta alla checca with fresh mozzarella. It is a great combination.
  • Add canned Italian tuna to the pasta. Italians love their canned tuna in olive oil and adding that to the Checca sauce makes the meal more substantial.
  • Add your favorite fresh Italian herbs to the dish. I do this exact thing with my homemade mushroom pizza. The more fresh herbs the better!
  • Add a little heat. If you like a little spice, add a little red pepper flakes to the Checca sauce. It is delicious this way.
checca sauce

Pairing Ideas

Here are some of our favorite things to serve with this easy Italian pasta:

  • Aperol and soda in glass with a lemon wedge on a blue counter
    Aperol Soda Cocktail
  • A stack of pizzelle with powdered sugar on top on a plate.
    Classic Italian Pizzelle (My Family Recipe)
  • balsamic strawberries
    Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar
  • garlic crostini on plate
    Simple Garlic Crostini

More like this

If you love this recipe, you will also like these:

  • cherry tomato pasta in bowl
    Easy Cherry Tomato And Garlic Pasta
  • Tomato and ricotta salad
    Easy Tomato and Ricotta Salad
  • zucchini and tomatoes
    Perfectly Cooked Zucchini and Tomatoes
  • spaghetti aglio e olio
    Spaghetti with Olive Oil and Garlic (Aglio e Olio)
checca sauce
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Checca Sauce

Checca sauce is a no-cook Italian sauce that is served over pasta. This simple sauce has tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, and herbs.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Total Time15 minutes mins
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Melissa Oleary

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Pasta penne, ziti, spaghetti or your favorite pasta shape.
  • 6 fresh tomatoes quartered then halved.
  • 1 tablespoon Fresh garlic 3-4 cloves minced
  • ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup fresh basil coarsely chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh chives and Italian parsley chopped- optional
  • ¼ cup Italian olives pitted and coarse chopped
  • ¼ cup Parmesan freshly grated
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  • Add all of the checca sauce ingredients to a large bowl.
    6 fresh tomatoes, 1 tablespoon Fresh garlic, ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil, ½ cup fresh basil, ¼ cup fresh chives and Italian parsley, ¼ cup Italian olives, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • Let sit for at least 15 minutes but up to 1 hour.
  • Cook the pasta until al dente according to the manufacturers instructions.
    1 lb Pasta
  • Drain pasta once cooked then add it to the bowl with checca sauce.
  • Mix well.
  • Serve immediately with fresh Parmesan.
    ¼ cup Parmesan

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 1358mg | Potassium: 606mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1823IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition Values are estimates only.

See full nutrition disclaimer here

Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!

Course :Appetizer, entertaining, healthy dinner, Main Course

Reader Interactions

Comments

    5 from 3 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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  1. Lana says

    May 11, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    5 stars
    This was the perfect no cook sauce! So much flavor and it was great for the new tomatoes coming in from my garden

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      May 11, 2023 at 8:57 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply

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I am so excited you are here. My name is Melissa and I started this recipe website to share easy recipes that I have been cooking for years. I have written hundreds of easy recipes that are tested and perfected. Some of the recipes I learned during my years of working in restaurants, some from owning my own food company, and others from friends and traveling.

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