Description
Rigatoni tossed in a velvety, roasted sungold tomato and Calabrian chili sauce, served in a shower of Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
Scale
- 420 g Sungold cherry tomatoes
- 230 g sweet white onion
- 8 garlic cloves (~30 g)
- 10 oz or 290 g pasta + reserved pasta water
- 2 tbsp butter or evoo
- 70 g creamy milk (used my house blend milk to keep this dairy-free)
- 2 tbsp (25 g) chopped Calabrian chili in oil
- 1-2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more as needed
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can use a toaster oven at 450°F convection.
- Roast the tomatoes and aromatics. Add the whole Sungold cherry tomatoes, onion, and garlic cloves to the sheet pan, drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and kosher salt, and toss together. Roast for 22-25 minutes until the cherry tomatoes are burst and slightly charred.
- Cook the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente, reserve 1 cup of pasta water, and drain. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in the pot and toss the cooked pasta in the melted butter. Cover and set aside.
- Blend and strain the sauce. Pop the garlic out of its skin, and add to a blender, along with the cherry tomatoes and onions (plus all the juices), the milk, Calabrian chili, and salt. Blend on low, slowly ramping the speed up to high; blend for a total of 2 minutes until creamy and smooth. Taste and adjust for salt as needed. Strain the sauce through a sieve over a bowl (optional, but highly recommended). Straining the sauce yields a much smoother, glossy sauce that clings to the pasta better.
- Toss the pasta. Pour all the sauce over the cooked pasta, along with a generous splash of pasta water. Heat the pasta over medium-low heat, toss to coat the pasta, adding pasta water as needed, until the sauce becomes glossy and coats the noodles. Feel free to add a small amount of grated Parmesan when tossing the pasta; it’ll make the sauce coat the pasta even better.