Roasted White Bean and Tomato Pasta

cooking.nytimes.com

Roasted White Bean and Tomato Pasta

With a flavor profile inspired by pasta e fagioli, this weeknight pasta recipe coaxes rich flavor out of simple ingredients while enlisting the oven to create a luscious sauce from roasted tomatoes and white beans. Essentially, the dish requires just three steps: Boil pasta, roast your sauce ingredients, then stir together until the pasta is glossy. When roasted in the oven, the beans become crispy, like croutons, and break down in a way that helps thicken the sauce. Though a flurry of freshly grated cheese would be welcome on top, this otherwise-vegan dish doesn’t need it: The roasted tomato sauce is rich and luscious, fortified by starchy pasta water, roasted beans and a good glug of extra-virgin olive oil.

Prep

Cook

Total

Serves

4 to 6 servings

Instructions

  1. 01

    Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high.

  2. 02

    In a small bowl, stir together ¼ cup olive oil with the shallot, tomato paste, garlic, rosemary, red-pepper flakes and sugar. On a large baking sheet, toss the tomatoes with the dressing; season generously with salt and pepper, then spread in an even layer.

  3. 03

    On a second baking sheet, toss the beans with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season generously with salt and pepper.

  4. 04

    Roast the tomatoes and beans, stirring halfway through, until tomatoes slump and beans crisp, about 25 minutes.

  5. 05

    While the tomatoes and beans roast, cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water then drain pasta.

  6. 06

    Transfer the beans and tomatoes to the pot. Add ¼ cup pasta cooking water to the sheet pan from the tomatoes and use a flexible spatula to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the sheet pan; transfer to the pot, then repeat with another ¼ cup pasta cooking water. (One thing they’ll teach you in French culinary school: Never, ever discard the sucs, those browned bits at the bottom of the pan that carry deep flavor.)

  7. 07

    Add the pasta and the remaining ½ cup olive oil to the pot; stir vigorously until saucy. Season generously with salt and pepper, then add extra pasta water as needed to moisten until glossy. Divide among wide, shallow bowls and top with grated cheese, if desired.

Free · No ads

Save this recipe to your own library.

iCook.ing is a free recipe library. Create an account in 10 seconds to save this recipe, plan your week, and head to the store with one shopping list.

  • Save from anywhere

    Paste a link from a recipe blog, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or Pinterest — we pull the ingredients, steps, and photo.

  • Plan your week

    Drag recipes onto a weekly plan, scale for the number of people you're feeding, and never wonder what's for dinner.

  • One shopping list

    Your plan rolls up into a single, de-duplicated shopping list — sorted by aisle so the store run is faster.

  • Cook, don't scroll

    Big, screen-stays-awake cook mode with built-in timers. No ads. No life story above the recipe.