It’s so quick and simple: Just sauté colorful cherry tomatoes with garlic and toss them with angel hair pasta. Top it with Parmesan and you’re done. To say the sauce is quick doesn’t quite get the point across. It’s practically instant. This is one of those surprising meals that is more than the sum of its parts. Angel hair pasta is sometimes labeled capellini or capelli d’Angelo – either is fine. If you can’t find angel hair, use thin spaghetti, sometimes labeled spaghettini. All of these different pastas cook in minutes. You need two pints of mixed cherry tomatoes. Pierce them with a knife so they don’t burst their juices all over you while they cook. Four minutes in a hot skillet makes them a little saucy and deliciously intense. Save some of the pasta cooking water before you drain the angel hair – it’s starchy and adds some richness and silkiness to this simple sauce. Toss the pasta with the tomatoes and basil leaves right in the pan, and sprinkle some Parmesan goes on top. You can serve this quick and pretty pasta dish straight from the skillet. Again and again. For a fancier presentation, if serving this at a dinner party, remove half of the tomatoes before tossing with the pasta. Plate the pasta, then top with the reserved tomatoes. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the pasta is tender. With a ladle or a heat-proof liquid measuring cup, remove about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta but do not rinse it; transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and toss well. Cook, shaking the pan, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to collapse and form juices. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 2 minutes more. Add more pasta water if needed, a tablespoon at a time, to thin the mixture so the sauce coats the pasta. Add half the basil leaves and toss again.
