If you’re looking for a quick and easy yet elegant (and, of course, delicious) pasta dish, this fettuccine with tomato butter sauce is a powerhouse of pantry ingredients. Canned tomatoes and butter transform into a luscious sauce with onions, garlic, and chili flakes.

The fresh feta cheese showered on top is the only thing you’ll need to grab from the store (if you can only find soft feta, you can crumble it), but you can also swap in grated parm or another hard, salty cheese. And the author herself advocates for cooking whatever pasta you’ve got if fettuccine is nowhere to be found.

See more pantry meals and easy pasta recipes, and read up on recommendations for the best canned foods to stock.

  • Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients (10)

  • 3 tablespoons canola, vegetable, or light olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
  • 1 (14 oz) can of chopped or diced tomatoes
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • ½ onion, peeled (not chopped)
  • 2 ounces butter (salted or unsalted)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes, plus extra to taste
  • Pinch of sugar (optional)
  • 5 ounces dried fettuccine
  • 2 ounces firm feta cheese

Instructions

  1. First, heat the oil and garlic in a medium saucepan over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes until fragrant and beginning to golden (take care not to burn the garlic). Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes, onion half, butter and salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduce over a low heat for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Splash in some water if it’s sticking or reducing too much. Remove and discard the onion, then taste the sugo for seasoning. You may want to add a pinch of sugar, depending on the acidity of the tomatoes.
  2. After 15 minutes of the sugo simmering, bring a large saucepan of water up to the boil and cook the fettuccine until al dente (around 9–10 minutes – check packet instructions for exact timing), reserving a mugful of the starchy cooking water. Using tongs, transfer the fettuccine into the tomato sauce, stirring in spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water until coated in the sauce. Taste again for seasoning (bear in mind the feta will add saltiness).
  3. Divide the pasta between two plates, then finely grate over the feta to finish.