RECIPE: Garlicky Burst Tomato Sauce

1 pint cherry tomatoes

5 garlic cloves

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (plus more to taste)

Dash of crushed red pepper

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is shimmering, add the garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper.  Your kitchen should start to smell like garlic! Be careful though and watch the garlic, as you don’t want it to burn. Once the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds to a minute), add the tomatoes to the pan, stirring occasionally until they soften and burst.

To serve:

With pasta: cook pasta 2-3 minutes shy of the directions on the package and add drained (but not rinsed) pasta to the warm sauce, along with ½ cup to 1 cup reserved pasta water and ¼ cup to ½ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese.  Stir and allow the sauce to emulsify and the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce.

With chicken: season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and brown chicken in a separate pan, about 5 minutes each side.  Add to the pan with the sauce and let finish cooking in the sauce.

With salmon: season salmon with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and cook in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Top cooked salmon with sauce before serving.