My boyfriend and I have been making this simple yet extraordinarily delicious pasta for almost a decade. It's especially perfect during the summer when tomatoes are juicy and ripe, though I've been known to make it in the dead of winter when I need a kick of bright, fresh flavor. To this day we still don't know exactly who invented the recipe, but it was likely inspired by a Jamie Oliver dish (old Naked Chef episodes are regularly rewatched in this house). The magic comes from the balsamic vinegar and a single sheet pan: the tangy acidity of the balsamic sweetens as it caramelizes the tomatoes and onions, while the aluminum foil-wrapped garlic softens and mellows as they all roast together in the oven. In fact, this recipe is one of the few reasons to turn on your oven during the hottest months of the year—you just can't get that same level of sticky-sweet goodness on the stovetop. (The easy cleanup doesn't hurt either.)
Once everything's all roasty-toasty (about 20 minutes, give or take), mush the garlic on the sheet pan, throw the cooked pasta right on top, add a few sprigs of basil, and toss everything together. Use any pasta shape you like, but I prefer the twistier shapes, like fusilli or casarecce, since they catch the sauce created from the balsamic and tomatoes in their nooks and crannies best. Speaking of riffing, this recipe was made for adding your own spin: swap out or add more veggies (summer squash is always a great idea), dollop some fresh ricotta on top of your plate (or even better, a hunk of burrata), or ditch the grated Parm for ricotta salata instead (its saltiness is the perfect foil to the sweetness in the dish). If you're cooking for a crowd, scaling up the recipe's a breeze—you'll just need an extra sheet pan or two. Pair with a glass of crisp rosé, hunks of crusty bread, and an easygoing salad for the ultimate summer meal. —Erin Alexander
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