Why This Recipe Works

Slow-roasted tomatoes offer a sweet depth of flavor to pasta, but we didn’t want to spend 2 hours waiting for the oven to work its magic for our Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. By choosing cherry tomatoes instead of bigger varieties and turning up the oven to 500 degrees, we are able to achieve the same richness of flavor in just 20 minutes. Nestling sliced garlic cloves into the tomatoes lets us soften their edges without burning them. Tossed with pasta, basil, and Parmesan, the dish delivers deep flavor—faster.

Before You Begin

You will need 3 pints of cherry tomatoes for this recipe; you can use an equal amount of grape tomatoes. Linguine or capellini can be substituted for the spaghetti.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, tomato paste, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and pepper flakes together in large bowl. Add tomatoes and toss to combine.

Transfer tomato mixture to prepared sheet and push tomatoes toward center of sheet. Scrape any remaining garlic and tomato paste from bowl into center of tomatoes. Bake until tomatoes are blistered and browned, about 20 minutes.

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot.

Add basil, roasted tomato mixture, 1/2 cup reserved cooking water, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pasta and toss to combine. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with Parmesan. Serve, passing extra Parmesan separately.