Sweet charred tomatoes meet the deep heat of roasted pepper oil in a 20-minute weeknight pasta. The oil does the heavy lifting here, turning fresh tomatoes and garlic into dinner with minimal fuss. Serve with something green alongside.

Serves 2. 25 minutes, 20 at the stove.

About 500 calories a serving, 17 g protein, 96 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat. From USDA figures for 80% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 8 oz of pasta 2 minutes before its package says it's done; reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.
2. While the pasta cooks, thinly slice 3 garlic cloves and halve 1 pound of cherry tomatoes. Heat the 1/4 cup of roasted pepper oil in a large skillet over high heat until it shimmers, then add the tomatoes and cook without stirring for 3 minutes until they blister on one side.
3. Stir the tomatoes, add the garlic and 1/2 cup of roasted peppers, and cook for 2 minutes more until the garlic softens and the peppers warm through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.2 min
4. Add the drained pasta to the skillet along with 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and toss over the heat for 1 minute to marry the flavors, adding more pasta water if the dish looks dry. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.1 min

Note Swap the roasted peppers for torn fresh basil if you have it on hand. Leftover pasta keeps for two days refrigerated and reheats gently with a splash of water in the pan. Serve with crusty bread or a simple salad of bitter greens.