We love the way that roasting intensifies the flavor of canned tomatoes. While we're pretty obsessed with the texture of bucatini, a strand pasta with a hole running through it, this dish is every bit as delicious with spaghetti, linguine, or even rigatoni.
Notes
Do Ahead: Tomato sauce can be made 4 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat before mixing with pasta.
Ingredients
- 8 cloves garlic
- ½ stick unsalted butter - ¼ cup
- 1 28- ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 anchovy fillets - packed in oil
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes - plus more for serving
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 12 ounces bucatini - or spaghetti
- Finely grated Parmesan - for serving
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Crush 8 garlic cloves with the flat side of a chef's knife and remove the peel.
- Cut ¼ cup (½ stick) butter into small pieces (about ½").
Make the sauce
- Empty 28 oz. can of tomatoes into a 13x9" baking dish and crush lightly with your hands. Watch out for flying tomato juices.
- Scatter garlic, butter pieces, 2 anchovies, and ½ tsp. red pepper flakes over tomatoes; season with salt and black pepper.
- Roast tomatoes, tossing halfway through, until garlic is very soft and the mixture is thick and jammy, 35–40 minutes.
- While tomatoes are roasting, bring a large pot of water (4-6 qt.) to a boil over high heat and add a small fistful of salt.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven and let the sauce cool slightly.
- Using a potato masher or fork, break up garlic and tomatoes until the mixture looks like coarse applesauce.
Cook the pasta
- Cook 12 oz. bucatini or spaghetti in the pot of boiling water, stirring occasionally with tongs, according to package instructions for al dente.
- Toward the end of cook time, use a heatproof measuring cup to scoop out and reserve ½ cup pasta cooking liquid.
- Drain pasta in a colander; reserve pot.
Sauce the pasta & serve
- Return the pasta to the pot and add tomato sauce and pasta cooking liquid.
- Cook over medium-high heat, tossing with tongs, until sauce coats pasta, about 3 minutes.
- Divide pasta among plates. Serve topped with Parmesan and more red pepper flakes.