Big Little Recipes
Creamy, Cheesy, 2-Ingredient Tomato Sauce
This Big Little Recipe is a no-brainer for a weeknight (like, ahem, tonight).
A Big Little Recipe has the smallest-possible ingredient list and big everything else: flavor, creativity, wow factor. That means five ingredients or fewer—not including water, salt, black pepper, and certain fats (like oil and butter), since we're guessing you have those covered. Inspired by the column, the Big Little Recipes cookbook is available now.
If espresso martinis and fanny packs can make a comeback, why not sun-dried tomatoes? This wrinkly, tangy ingredient peaked in the ’90s, then fell out of favor in the decades since. But it never left my pantry.
Tomatoes are chock-full of glutamates, the amino acid behind umami. Transforming them from juicy orbs to little nuggets concentrates that meaty, savory flavor, not unlike beef jerky without the beef.
Amid a shelf of convenient tomato products—whole peeled, diced, pureed, paste—sun-dried are the most convenient. The most accommodating when you’ve had a long day. They don’t need to be sautéed or simmered or seasoned. They just need to be opened.
And in this recipe, chopped. Toss in a bowl, smash into cream cheese, and done. Like their names suggest, these two ingredients are all you need for an intensely creamy, cheesy tomato sauce.
It comes together in less time than it takes for water to reach a rolling boil. Which means you can spend the eight-ish minutes that the pasta is cooking pouring yourself a glass of wine and whipping up a crunchy topping.
Stream a slick of that sun-dried tomato oil—you didn’t think we were going to forget about it, did you?—in a skillet. Once it’s shimmering, add a spoonful of plump capers, which will puff and split, like popcorn. Sprinkled on top, these channel flaky salt, grated Parmesan, and crunchy bread crumbs all at the same time.
The hardest part is not eating them all before the pasta is ready. But lucky for us, the pasta will be ready in just a second.
| 4 | ounces cream cheese |
| 1/3 | cup (2 ounces) minced sun-dried tomatoes, oil reserved |
| 3 | tablespoons capers, patted dry |
| Kosher salt | |
| 8 | ounces spaghetti or bucatini |
| Freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste (optional) |
| 4 | ounces cream cheese |
| 1/3 | cup (2 ounces) minced sun-dried tomatoes, oil reserved |
| 3 | tablespoons capers, patted dry |
| Kosher salt | |
| 8 | ounces spaghetti or bucatini |
| Freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste (optional) |
Put down those long grocery lists. Inspired by the award-winning column, our Big Little Recipes cookbook is minimalism at its best: few ingredients, tons of flavor.
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Written by: Emma Laperruque
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28 Comments
Interesting discovery while making this with no cooktop. My kitchen is getting redone. With the trusty instant pot, I sauteed the capers first. Didn't bother rinsing the pot. Added only 2 cups of water, I Tbsp truffle oil, 1 tsp salt and 7oz of spaghetti, broken in half ( I thought 8oz was too much). The pasta cooked in the instant pot in 4 min with about 5 min of natural release time (regular cooking time would have been 9-11min). When I opened the pot I thought I wouldn't have enough extra water for the sauce. I just added everything to the cream cheese/tomato mix and mixed it up. It was perfect.
Living in California , in a severe drought, I know that saving 1 1/2 quarts water may not seem much, but I figure if we all did that, it certainly wouldn't hurt.
Thanks
You can substitute creme fraiche for a slightly different take.
Emma you have a lovely way of speaking, so pleasant and endearing :)
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