Tuxedo Pasta — Dressed Up for the Night the World Said Your Name

January 2023. The Atlanta Magazine article published. Two pages. Photographs of the girls in the church kitchen — flour on aprons, spatulas in hands, faces concentrated and joyful. A photograph of me: in the green blouse (always the green blouse), standing at the stove, the Folgers can visible on the counter behind me. The headline: "The Woman Who Feeds Atlanta's Future." I read it at the kitchen table at 6 AM and the tears were not grief. The tears were the particular overwhelm of seeing your life reflected back to you in print and recognizing that the life is bigger than you knew.

The response: phone calls. Emails. Social media posts (Marcus set up an Instagram for Set the Table; it gained 2,000 followers in a week). A woman from the DeKalb County school board called and said, "We want Set the Table in five schools." FIVE SCHOOLS. The program that started with six girls and scrambled eggs is being requested by FIVE SCHOOLS. I said, "Let me think about it." But the thinking is already done. The answer is yes. The answer has always been yes. The table extends. The table has always extended. The only question is how fast and how far and the answer to both is: as fast and as far as the girls need it to go.

Made a celebration dinner: gumbo. My gumbo. The one that Jasmine said is my best dish. The gumbo that belongs to no tradition except mine. The article is mine. The program is mine. The gumbo is mine. And the "mine" includes everyone — Mama and Destiny and Diamond and every girl who ever held a spatula in my kitchen. Mine. Ours. The same thing.

Gumbo was the plan — it always is when something big happens in my kitchen — but the night the magazine hit and the phone started ringing and Marcus was hollering about Instagram numbers, I reached for something faster and just as festive: this tuxedo pasta, cream and tomato swirled together, dressed up and ready like it knew the occasion called for it. This is the kind of dish I make when the table is full and the feeling is too big for words, when you want something that looks like it took more than it did because the day itself already took everything you had — in the best possible way.

Tuxedo Pasta

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb penne or rigatoni pasta
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Fresh basil leaves, torn, for garnish

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining. Set pasta aside.
2. Build the tomato base. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Simmer the sauce. Pour in crushed tomatoes. Add Italian seasoning, sugar, and a generous pinch of salt. Stir to combine and let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
4. Add the cream. Reduce heat to low. Pour in the heavy cream and stir until fully incorporated into the tomato sauce, creating a rose-colored “tuxedo” blend. Let it gently simmer for 3–4 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
5. Finish and combine. Add butter to the sauce and stir until melted. Add drained pasta directly to the skillet and toss to coat, adding splashes of reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce and help it cling to every piece.
6. Melt in the Parmesan. Remove from heat. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan until melted and silky. Taste once more for seasoning.
7. Serve. Plate into wide bowls. Top with torn fresh basil, an extra shower of Parmesan, and a crack of black pepper. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 16g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 65g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 480mg