Angel Hair Pasta
Published July 9, 2024
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
Salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
Freshly ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper (optional)
1 pound angel hair pasta
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil
Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
94 grams carbs; 28 milligrams cholesterol; 683 calories; 13 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 26 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 647 milligrams sodium; 19 grams protein; 7 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat a large pasta pot of salted water to a boil.
- Step 2
To a large pan over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. Allow the butter to melt, then add cherry tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are beginning to soften and the skins are a little blistered, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Step 3
Add garlic, shallot, 1 teaspoon each of kosher salt and black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper, if using, and toss to combine with the tomatoes. Cook for about 6 minutes, until the shallots are translucent and the tomatoes are fully softened yet still intact. Meanwhile, add pasta to the boiling salted water and cook until al dente according to the packaging directions, about 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then strain the pasta.
- Step 4
Add the cooked pasta, herbs and a bit of the reserved pasta water to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to combine, until you have a glossy pasta sauce; add more pasta water slowly, if needed. Serve topped with plenty of Parmesan.
Private Notes
Comments
Close, but a miss. Do yourself a favor and make the noodles slightly more undercooked than al dente, and also add very-ripe tomatoes in the instructions. Why? When you add the semi-cooked pasta and cook it in the sauce, it will finish cooking and soak up the sauce+seasoning. This imparts the savorfy seasoning and flavor into the spaghetti noodles.
This was good but, as others have indicated, the pasta to tomatoes ratio is way off. If using 1 lb of pasta as called for by the recipe, I would recommend 2lbs of tomatoes. Also, I doubled the shallots (b/c I like shallots) as well as the herbs.
Throw in an anchovy or two with the garlic to up the umami.
It's the ultimate comfort food. Good any time of day..for breakfast I add a splash of heavy cream. .
Just made this with produce from my garden. For one pound of pasta I used a heaping 4 cups of cherry tomatoes, a cup of chopped basil and 6 cloves of garlic. I added 1-2 Tb of balsamic vinegar to the sauce before adding the pasta. It was a great way to use fresh garden produce. Topping it with some parmesan and/or asiago cheese was nice but not needed.
This has been my GoTo pasta dish for more than 40 years. I usually add sliced Kalamata olives, more tomatoes and more basil. Always hits the spot.