the lighting in my kitchen is terrible.
THIS IS GONNA SOUND A LITTLE COMPLICATED, BUT TRUST ME IT IS NOT.
it takes 45min to roast garlic, but it’s the kind of thing you throw in the oven and go do something else. and i’m going to spell the entire thing out for you, so have no fear.
olive oil
head of garlic
6-10 cherry tomatoes
3 cups/handfuls of spinach
2-3 oz pasta (2 oz is 1 cup cooked…i just learned this TODAY for fuck’s sake)
salt and pepper to taste
heat the oven/toaster oven up to 400F. take a whole head of garlic (or like 5-6 medium cloves - i love the stuff so i used about 8), peel away some of the outer papery bits. cut enough off the top to expose the garlic, make a nest for it in tinfoil, drizzle with olive oil, and close the tinfoil. throw in oven. set timer. go do something productive.
when you’ve got 10 minutes left on the garlic, add 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet and add the tomatoes. cook them alone until they get a little wrinkly looking. add the spinach and stir to wilt. add some salt and pepper.
set some salted water to boil.
open the adorable garlic satchel and separate the cloves so they cool a bit.
at this point, the tomatoes should have aged to about 70. CAREFULLY (these fuckers spit at you and it WILL BURN) squish the tomatoes with a fork to release the juice. pricking them first should tone down the splash factor.
squish the garlic out of the papery skin (it’s going to be hot, like really hot, be careful) into the skillet and mash up with a fork. keep the heat low.
water should be boiling. i used angel hair because it cooks so quickly and i’m impatient. literally 3 minutes after you’ve put the angel hair in, turn off the heat (if using other pasta, leave 1 minute off the recommended cooking time) and pour about 1/3 cup of the cooking water into the skillet. drain the pasta and add it in.
finish off the pasta in the skillet, season to taste.
IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD. be fancy and get the whole wheat pasta if you want, but i can’t stand the stuff. more cloves could only be a good thing.
be prepared to sweat garlic tomorrow. just know it’s coming.
