A bare-cupboard dinner built on one box of vegetable pasta, finished hot in the pan with garlic, oil, and pepper. The dried tomato and spinach baked into the pasta give this simple sauce all the flavor you need.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 15 at the stove.

About 60 calories a serving, 4 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat. From USDA figures for 100% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook 8 oz of the rotini until al dente, about 10 minutes; drain and set aside, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.12 min
2. While the pasta cooks, mince 3 cloves of garlic. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the garlic until fragrant and pale gold, about 2 minutes.2 min
3. Add the cooked pasta to the skillet with the garlic oil and toss to coat. Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water and stir gently until the pasta is glossy and warm, about 2 minutes, adding more pasta water if needed to loosen it. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at once.

Note Leftovers keep in the fridge for two days; reheat gently in a skillet with a splash of water. Serve with grated cheese if you have it, or alongside a simple salad. To stretch this into three portions, serve with a hunk of bread and a green vegetable.