Baked tomato butter pasta
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Over a year ago I tested the recipes in
’s cookbook What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking (also the name of her Substack). All the recipes were streamlined and weeknight-friendly as Caro promised they’d be, but one both confused and delighted me: the baked tomato butter pasta. (It also happens to only use the 40 ingredients.)The recipe takes what could be a very fast affair — tomato sauce + pasta — and slooooooows it down. You roast tomatoes for 45 minutes, then add hot water, uncooked pasta, basil, and an entire stick of butter to the tomatoes and bake that for a half hour. Then you add cheese and bake it for a few more minutes.
It’s super hands-off but as I was testing it I was like this is taking so long, why? Once I tasted it, it was clear why.
The tomatoes are soft, slouchy, and sweet, even with the early season ones I used in May last year. The pasta is plumped with, not draped by, tomato juices and so much butter. The butter, that butter, is the key. It creates a luxurious tomato pasta, not a hasty one, the kind of thing to make on a freaky cool day in September/October when you’re lazing about and the tomatoes are still around but maybe need a little more love. The oven is a love tomatoes love.
Caro’s cookbook came out this week and she’s letting me share her bewilderingly good pasta with all over you. When I made it this week, my family said “don’t give away a bite of that.” Thank you, yay, and congrats Caro!
More new tomato recipes for you
Fresh Tomato & Yogurt Dip
Just yogurt + grated tomato + salt + pepper.
, who tested the recipe, called it devastatingly simple and delicious, and super fancy and transportive. What possibly could you be waiting for?
Salmon with Tomatoes & Corn
A graceful recipe that really truly only uses a sheet pan, not even a side bowl.
Two of my favorites from a tomato Venn diagram I worked on. Both take fewer than 30 minutes and are mostly no-cook.
Grilled Corn Panzanella
Tomato-soaked bread plus plus plus (grilled corn, cucumbers, and mozzarella).
Baked Tomato Basil Butter Pasta
Adapted from What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers
Serves 3 or 4
6 garlic cloves
2 pounds cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar (or honey)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more for serving
8 ounces pasta (any short noodle)
3 basil sprigs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Smash and peel 6 garlic cloves. In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, combine the garlic, 2 pounds cherry tomatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are collapsing.
3. Remove from the oven (but leave the oven on). Scatter 8 ounces short noodles and 2 basil sprigs over the top of the dish in an even layer. Smoosh the pasta down into the tomatoes and pour 1 1/4 cups hot water (as hot as your sink will go—doesn’t need to be boiling) over the top. The pasta should be covered in water, so add a bit more if needed. Add 8 tablespoons unsalted butter right in the center of the pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt over top. Cover with foil again (TIGHTLY) and bake for 30 minutes more, until the water is mostly absorbed and the pasta is almost tender.
4. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Discard the foil and basil sprigs and stir in 1/2 cup grated Parm. Return to the oven, uncovered, and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the sauce thickens and the pasta is tender.
5. Meanwhile, pluck the leaves off the remaining basil sprig and thinly slice them.
6. Stir in the sliced basil and keep stirring until everything combines into a delicious tomato sauce. Taste and add more salt as needed. Garnish with more Parm and red pepper flakes and serve immediately.
Reprinted with permission from What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers © 2024. Published by Union Square & Co.
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I want to eat everything from this post - wow!
Can’t wait to try this! Adding to my list for when my oven goes on again in Texas! It’s too hot in August :)