Perfect Weeknight Pasta

After a long day at the office, there's nothing better than coming home to a home-cooked meal on the table.  Right?  I mean, that's what they say.  I've never actually experienced such a miracle, but it sounds divine!  Well, a girl can dream.  For those of us who aren't getting a home-cooked meal after a long day unless we make it with our own two hands, it's good to have a recipe like this one in your back pocket.  The bulk of the "work" here involves taking containers of things and dumping them into various cooking vessels and then ignoring them for several minutes.  Perfect-o.  And the hardest part is also the most strangely satisfying: squeezing the roasted garlic-gold out of its little skin.  In a word, yum.  In the directions, I will demonstrate how easily this recipe can fit into your evening routine by telling you a little story about my own evening :)

Penne with Roasted Garlic and Tomatoes

(Serves 4-6)

1 lb. penne pasta

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (about 10 ounces)

4 cloves of garlic (you don't even need to peel it)

2 TBSP olive oil + 2 or 3 more TBSP

Salt and pepper
1 15 ounce can cannellini beans

1 bag baby spinach

2 TBSP fresh chopped basil

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese + more for on top

I walked in the door, kicked off my shoes, and dropped my work bag in its normal spot next to the island in the kitchen.  I preheated the oven to 450 degrees and filled a big pot with water.  Then I threw the pot on the stove over medium-high heat.  I gave the oven a chance to heat up and went to change out of my work clothes and wash the CTA-bus residue off of my hands.  

One pair of sweatpants and a ponytail later, the oven was ready to go.  I lined a small baking dish with aluminum foil and dumped the container of tomatoes into the baking dish, along with the garlic cloves (don't even peel 'em).  I drizzled the tomatoes and garlic with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and gave them a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Then, I gave the tomatoes a little shimmy and popped them in the oven for 45 minutes.  

Once the tomatoes are in the oven and you're waiting for the water to boil, you've got a few minutes to get stuff done or even, dare I say, relax!  I did some dishes leftover from last night and then poured myself a glass of wine and checked to see what shows were scheduled to record.  I love my dvr.

Before I knew it, the buzzer went off and the tomatoes were done.  They should be a little shrively and the garlic should smell heavenly.  I took the tomatoes out of the oven, speared the garlic cloves with a fork, and let them cool a little on a cutting board.  Hopefully, by this time your water has come to a boil.  I seasoned the water with salt and dumped in a pound of penne.  Then, I grabbed the big colander that I use for draining pasta and set it in the sink.  First, I drained the can of cannellini beans into the colander and then dumped the bag of spinach on top (see?  I told you there'd be a lot of dumping).  At this point, I had a couple minutes before the pasta was done, so I chopped the basil and extracted the roasted garlic from the skin (just sort of squeeze/push it out with a fork or the dull end of a knife).  

When my pasta was perfectly al dente, I drained the pasta into the colander containing the spinach and cannellini beans.  The hot pasta water will wilt the spinach and warm the beans.  Easy peasy!  Then, I dumped the pasta, spinach, and beans back into the pasta pot, dumped the tomatoes and their accumulated juices into the pot, and added the mushy roasted garlic.  I gave it a stir and added a few tablespoons more olive oil, plus the basil.  Grate the parmesan cheese in there, stir, taste, and add salt and pepper if needed.  I spooned it into a bowl, grated some more parmesan cheese on top, and threw it on the table.  DONE! 

Bonus: yummy leftovers