Sun-dried tomatoes are making a comeback. Ever since the sun-dried tomato-filled “Marry Me Chicken” recipe most recently went viral on TikTok, the tangy-sweet pantry ingredient has been popping up everywhere, no longer relegated to the “Overused 90s Ingredient Hall of Fame” with raspberry coulis and balsamic reduction.
And there’s good reason for it. Sun-dried tomatoes are packed with flavor, adding both brightness and depth to whatever they touch. Plus, when you buy jarred sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, you get a two-for-one ingredient that’s perfect for 5:30 Challenge recipes.
Here, we use the flavored oil to saute garlic, capers and red pepper flakes before adding a jar’s worth of tomatoes. (Buy julienne-cut tomatoes for less prep work.) This flavor combination evokes puttanesca but with a sweeter, less briny result.
To turn this aromatic oil into a sauce, add ½ cup of starch-filled pasta cooking water and bring to a rapid simmer. The bubbling liquid will emulsify into a creamy sauce as it cooks. Add the pasta and stir rapidly until it envelops the noodles. A final shake of red pepper flakes brings a bit of extra heat to the final dish.
Spicy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
- Salt
- 1 pound dried long pasta, such as linguine or spaghetti
- 1 (7-ounce) jar julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons drained capers, chopped
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of the pasta cooking water.
- When the pasta has nearly finished cooking, drain the tomatoes, reserving both the tomatoes and the oil. Measure out ½ cup oil, add to a large, deep skillet and place over medium-high heat. (Save any remaining oil for another use.) When the oil is shimmering, add the garlic and capers and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Add the drained tomatoes and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Increase the burner heat to high. Add ½ cup of the reserved pasta cooking water to the skillet and bring to a rapid simmer. Add the drained pasta and cook, stirring rapidly, until the mixture forms a creamy sauce around the pasta, about 1 minute. Add more pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if there isn’t enough liquid to form a sauce.
- Serve immediately, topped with additional pepper flakes if desired.
Serves 4 to 6.
Per serving, based on 4: 533 calories (percent of calories from fat, 15), 18 grams protein, 98 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams total sugars, 7 grams fiber, 9 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 240 milligrams sodium.
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