Creamy Rosé Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Liam starts at a new daycare in September—the original one closed, a pandemic casualty—and we found one through Teresa, who has her eye on everything that moves in this neighborhood. Two mornings a week, same as before. He talks about it with the anticipation of a person who has been at home for five months and is ready for something to happen outside these four rooms. "New school," he says, trying the words. "New friends." Yes. New friends.

Nora found her feet this week. She was lying on the floor mat and grabbed them with both hands and looked at them with the expression she brings to all new discoveries—an expression that contains both recognition and surprise, like the feet were expected and still remarkable. She has been holding her feet since Tuesday. She seems very satisfied with this development and I find it completely charming, which I expected. There is no developmental milestone so routine that the first time your baby does it isn't the best time.

Made a summer vegetable tart on Saturday—the kind with puff pastry and roasted zucchini and tomatoes and goat cheese—because the fire escape tomatoes were at absolute peak and I wanted to put them in something that treated them as seriously as they deserved. Liam helped arrange the vegetables on the pastry. He did it with the eye of a person who has opinions about arrangement. I did not correct the arrangement. It was fine. The tart was excellent.

Two tomato plants still producing. I'm calling it. This is the best fire escape garden I've done. The pandemic garden. The babies' first summer and the tomatoes' best year.

The tart was Saturday’s celebration, but the tomatoes kept coming — and with two plants still producing into what felt like the longest and strangest summer of my life, I needed more ways to honor them. This creamy rosé pasta with roasted tomatoes became the weeknight answer: simpler than pastry, just as reverent about the fruit, and the kind of thing you can pull together while a four-month-old holds her own feet and a toddler narrates everything from the floor. It felt right for a season that deserved something a little indulgent, a little pink, and entirely built around what the fire escape gave us.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

12 oz rigatoni or penne pasta
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry rosé wine
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
Fresh basil leaves, torn, for garnish

Instructions

Roast the tomatoes. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast 20–25 minutes until skins are blistered and tomatoes have released their juices.
Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Before draining, scoop out 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain pasta.
Build the sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute until fragrant but not browned.
Deglaze with rosé. Pour in the rosé wine and cook 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about half and the alcohol smell has mellowed.
Add cream and tomatoes. Stir in the heavy cream and roasted tomatoes along with any juices from the pan. Gently press some of the tomatoes with the back of a spoon to break them down into the sauce. Simmer 4–5 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
Finish the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the skillet along with the Parmesan and red pepper flakes. Toss well to coat, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time to loosen the sauce as needed. Cook 1–2 minutes more until everything is glossy and well combined.
Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and top with torn fresh basil and extra Parmesan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Creamy Rosé Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes — For the Fire Escape Garden’s Best Year