Name: 4-Ingredient Macaroni and Tomatoes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces dry elbow macaroni; 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes in juice, undrained; 3 tablespoons salted butter (divided); ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

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A spoonful of 4-Ingredient Macaroni and Tomatoes picks up tender elbows, pieces of red tomato, and a little buttery juice from the bottom of the bowl. The sauce is thin enough to slip into the macaroni, and there’s black pepper in the creases of the noodles. A few tomato pieces slump into the sauce as they simmer. The rest stay big enough to catch with your spoon.

Start with a can of whole peeled tomatoes and break them up right in their juice. That gives you some bigger pieces and plenty of pulp to stir through the pasta. Salted butter goes in twice. A little softens the flavor as the tomatoes cook, and the rest melts into the finished dish just before you serve it.

Put the pasta water on first. By the time the elbows are ready to drain, the tomatoes should be bubbling gently and the butter will have made its way through the sauce. The last couple of minutes happen in the skillet, where the hot macaroni takes up a little of the tomato juice. Dinner takes about 25 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

8 ounces dry elbow macaroni
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes packed in tomato juice, undrained
3 tablespoons salted butter, divided
½ teaspoon ground black pepper, preferably freshly ground

You’ll also need 3 quarts of water to cook the pasta. Scoop out ¼ cup before you drain the elbows. The cloudiness is starch from the pasta, and a spoonful of that water helps loosen the tomatoes if the skillet gets a little dry.

What to look for at the grocery store

Elbow macaroni has little curved tubes that pick up the juices as you stir. Standard elbows are a good size here. Eight ounces is half a standard 1-pound box. Weigh the pasta if you have a scale, especially when you’re working from an open box. The proportion of pasta to tomatoes is what leaves some juice to spoon over each serving.

Whole peeled tomatoes in juice give the skillet both the liquid and the soft pieces of tomato. The can should say whether the tomatoes are packed in juice or purée. Juice gives the dish the looser consistency you see in the bowl. Look for plain tomatoes so the butter and pepper come through. When you open the can, pour all of it into the bowl, right down to the pulp at the bottom.

Salted butter seasons the sauce along with the salt in regular canned tomatoes. Cut one tablespoon from the stick for the simmer and cut the other two tablespoons into a few pieces. The smaller pieces melt quickly when you stir them through the hot pasta. Straight from the refrigerator is fine. By the time you’ve turned the pasta over a few times, you’ll see the butter glisten on the elbows.

Black pepper is the only spice in this skillet, so you’ll notice its flavor. A medium grind leaves little flecks and gives an occasional peppery bite. Finely ground pepper from the pantry works too. Measure it with a level spoon and season in two additions if you’re using a fresh grind or if you like just a little warmth. Taste a noodle with some of the sauce on it before adding the last pinch.

Set out a skillet and a cup for the pasta water

A deep 10-inch skillet or a 3-quart sauté pan gives the tomatoes room to bubble and leaves space for the elbows. Later, you can go right to the bottom with your spoon and bring the tomato pieces up through the pasta. If all you have is a saucepan, use one with a roomy base and check the sauce by drawing your spoon through it. The juices can look deeper in a narrow pan, even after they’ve reduced enough.

Use a large pot for the macaroni, with room to stir as the water returns to a boil. Put a heatproof measuring cup next to the colander so it’s there when you reach for the pasta pot. A deep mixing bowl is handy for breaking up the whole tomatoes. Set out a wooden spoon for the skillet.

How to make macaroni and tomatoes

Get the water going and break up the tomatoes. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. While it heats, empty the can of tomatoes and its juice into a deep bowl. Break the tomatoes into pieces about an inch across with clean hands or a fork. Work below the rim of the bowl to catch any spurts of juice. Leave a mix of sizes. The smaller pieces will soften into the sauce while the bigger ones hold together.
Simmer the tomatoes with a little butter. When the pasta water is close to boiling, pour the tomatoes and their juices into the skillet and add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Set the skillet over medium heat. Once you see bubbles around the edges, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes. Small bubbles should break in the middle as well as around the edges. Stir once or twice, nudging a few pieces against the side of the pan. The juice should darken slightly as it cooks and still move freely when you tilt the skillet.

Boil the elbows and save a little of the water. Give the tomatoes a 2-minute head start, then stir the macaroni into the boiling water. Give it another stir after the first minute to free any elbows that have settled on the bottom. Start tasting about a minute before the box’s al dente time. Drain when the pasta is just shy of al dente, with a little firmness at the center. Scoop out ¼ cup of cooking water first. If the tomatoes need another minute on their own, let the elbows sit in the colander until the sauce is ready.
Finish the macaroni in the skillet. Tip the drained elbows straight into the tomatoes. Turn the pasta and tomatoes together over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes. Use a broad spoon to lift from the bottom, where the juices collect. If the liquid gets low and the spoon starts dragging along the skillet, add the reserved pasta water a tablespoon at a time. Taste an elbow after the first minute. When it’s tender and you can still gather a spoonful of juice from the bottom of the skillet, take the pan off the heat.
Stir in the last of the butter and the pepper. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in pieces. Fold the pasta gently until the butter melts, then grind or sprinkle the pepper over the skillet and stir it through. For a milder finish, start with half and taste before adding the rest. Give the pasta a minute in the warm skillet, then spoon it into bowls. Sweep the spoon along the bottom once more so each bowl gets a share of the buttery juices.

What to check while the skillet is still hot

The tomatoes are soft, but there’s a lot of liquid

Canned tomatoes vary quite a bit in how much juice they contain. Let the tomatoes simmer uncovered for another minute or two before adding the elbows if they seem especially watery. Drag the spoon through the skillet. You’ll see the pan for a moment before the juices run back in. That’s a good point to add the pasta. If the elbows are already in, let the skillet stand off the heat for a minute, then spoon up a little from the middle to check the consistency again.

The elbows are tender and the pan looks dry

Take the skillet off the heat and stir in a tablespoon of the reserved water. Give it a few turns with the spoon, then see how much sauce you can pull up from the bottom. Do this before adding the last two tablespoons of butter if you catch it in time. If you’ve poured out the pasta water, use a tablespoon of warm water from the kettle.

You see a few shiny drops of butter on top

Stir from the bottom for another 15 to 20 seconds. The starch on the drained macaroni and the juices underneath help the melted butter spread across the pasta. You can add a teaspoon of warm cooking water if the skillet looks tight. The sauce should have a light shine and a little body once the butter’s stirred through. Aim to serve it while that butter is freshly melted, especially if the skillet is going straight to the table.

Ingredient swaps for the four-ingredient recipe

Plain canned diced tomatoes work when you’ve got a couple of smaller cans. Use two 14½-ounce cans, both with their juice. Diced pieces tend to keep their edges as they cook. Press some into the side of the skillet with the back of a wooden spoon once they’ve warmed through. That leaves enough pulp to coat the elbows along with plenty of chunks. If you find whole tomatoes packed in purée, start with them as written and loosen the skillet with a little cooking water as needed.

Small pasta shells can take the place of elbows, ounce for ounce. They catch the bits of tomato inside their cups, so use a broad spoon to get a scoop that includes the sauce underneath. Go by the timing on the new package. Smaller shells can go from firm to soft quickly, so taste one before draining and check again early during the skillet finish. Short tubes such as small penne also work if that’s the box you have open.

Salted plant-based butter in stick form works in the same amount if you want a dairy-free skillet. Pick one you already like the taste of and use a dairy-free pasta. Add the last two tablespoons off the heat, one spoonful at a time, stirring between additions.

Making a smaller skillet or getting a head start

For two dinner portions, use 4 ounces of dry elbows, one 14½-ounce can of tomatoes with its juice, 1½ tablespoons of salted butter, and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. If the smaller cans at your store are diced, mash a few pieces while they simmer. Start with about ½ tablespoon butter in the tomatoes and finish with 1 tablespoon. A medium saucepan works for this amount. Check the tomatoes a minute or two early, especially if you use a wide skillet that gives the smaller amount of juice more room to evaporate.

To make eight dinner portions, double all four ingredients and divide the sauce and pasta between two deep skillets. You can boil a full pound of elbows in a large stockpot and reserve ½ cup of the cooking water before you drain it. Give the colander a quick shake, then divide the pasta between the skillets. Taste an elbow from each pan. The tomatoes in the skillet over the stronger burner may have reduced faster and need a splash of the reserved water.

If you’re getting a jump on dinner, break up the tomatoes in the morning and refrigerate them in a covered bowl with their juice. Measure the dry elbows and slice the butter while you’re at it. You can also simmer the tomatoes with the first tablespoon of butter ahead and refrigerate the sauce on its own. Warm it gently as the pasta boils. Put the final tablespoons of butter and the pepper in when you finish the fresh elbows in the skillet.

Storing and reheating

Refrigerate. Put leftover pasta and the juices from the skillet into shallow covered containers and refrigerate promptly. A small amount of sauce at the bottom of each container gives the elbows something to warm up in. This makes a good next-day lunch. The macaroni will soak up some liquid overnight, so expect the chilled portion to look thicker than it did when you first put it away.

Reheat. Add a tablespoon of water for each bowlful and warm the pasta in a small covered saucepan over medium-low heat. Once it starts to loosen, give it a gentle stir so the pieces of tomato stay intact. Take the lid off toward the end and heat until steaming throughout. In the microwave, cover the bowl loosely and stir between short bursts so the center warms evenly. A fresh grind of pepper brings back some of the aroma when you sit down to eat.

Freeze the sauce for a later meal. If you’re cooking specifically for the freezer, stop after simmering the tomatoes with the first tablespoon of butter. Chill the sauce in a shallow freezer-safe container, then freeze it. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and let it come to a gentle simmer in the skillet while you cook the elbows. Fold in the hot pasta, then finish with the remaining butter and the pepper. Freshly cooked elbows have the most bite when you’re making a batch this way.

What to serve with it

The skillet makes four dinner portions or about six smaller sides. For dinner, ladle it into shallow bowls so the tomato juices can spread around the edges. A handful of crisp lettuce with sliced cucumber is good alongside the warm pasta. A piece of toast is handy if you like to wipe the bowl clean, especially when you’ve left the sauce loose enough to pool underneath the noodles.

As a side dish, serve it with roast chicken or pan-seared pork chops. It goes well with browned green beans or a vinegary cabbage slaw when you want something crisp on the plate. Use a wide spoon with enough depth to carry a bit of juice. A tomato chunk or two on top of each serving gives you that first sweet, peppery bite while the skillet is still warm.