Email to Buny      

Tomato: Garlicky Angel Hair w/ Grape Tomatoes

Source of Recipe

Fine Cooking Magazine, posted by stella to recipecircus


List of Ingredients

Kosher salt 1 tsp. plus 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more for the baking sheet
2 pints grape tomatoes (about 20 oz.)
4 large or 5 small cloves garlic
Large pinch dried red chile flakes
12 large leaves fresh basil
5 oz. dried angel hair pasta
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano


Recipe

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the broiler to high. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and rub it with oil. Toss the tomatoes with 1 tsp. oil and about 1/4 tsp. salt. Spread them on the baking sheet. Broil, shaking the pan occasionally, until they're cracked, very soft, and shrunken, about 20 minutes; they'll be blackened in places.

Meanwhile, chop the garlic and put it in a small saucepan, along with 3 Tbs. oil and the chile flakes. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the garlic just begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let the oil steep.

Stack the basil leaves on top of one another and roll them into a cigar shape. Slice across the cigar to create thin -- but not ultra-thin -- ribbons (about 1/4 cup).

When the tomatoes are done, cook the pasta until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Immediately toss it with the garlic oil and 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt. Grind lots of fresh pepper over the pasta, add the broiled tomatoes and the basil, and toss to combine well. Add half the parmigiano, toss again, and immediately turn out into warm bowls. Top with the remaining parmigiano.

YIELD: 2 Servings or 4 Side Dish Servings

TIP: One of the most cumbersome tasks of cooking with garlic is extracting the cloves from their tough, dried skins. Here's a quick trick: Separate a head of garlic into individual cloves and put them in a small bowl. Run very hot tap water over the cloves and vigorously stir them with a metal whisk. The hot water will soften the garlic skin while the stirring will loosen it. Now you can easily slip the skins off with a paring knife.