Pasta in butter tomato sauce - Testing

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022464-tomato-butter-pasta

1 - Weird. I'm sure I've made this once before. If I did, I took no notes. This was incredibly quick and very easy. It's important to have good, flavorful tomatoes - the winter grocery store tomatoes or, as my dad called them "Canadian Tire tomatoes", just won't do, since the flavor all comes from the fresh tomato. I don't know if the butter needs to be frozen and grated. The noodles go back into the pot hot and then you cook the sauce, so in chunks should be plenty fine. Also, how about undercooking the noodles before draining them and then finishing them in the tomato? Sort of just pre-al-dente? Or would that cook the tomato too much?

1lb pasta (any kind)

2lbs large, ripe tomatoes, halved horizontally

¼ cup frozen butter (try cutting in chunks instead of freezing and grating it)

1 large garlic clove, peeled

¼ tsp red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving

 Black pepper

 OPTIONAL:

Torn basil leaves, for serving (optional)

 Finely grated Parmesan, for serving

1. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cut ends of the tomato into a large bowl. Discard or compost skins. Grate the butter into the bowl as well. Using the small holes of the box grater, grate the garlic into the bowl. Add the red-pepper flakes, and season generously with salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Return the drained pasta to the pot, along with the bowl of grated tomato and butter. Set over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and glosses the pasta, 2 to 3 minutes (the sauce will thicken as it sits). Add pasta water as needed to emulsify the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
4. Serve with more red-pepper flakes, black pepper, basil and Parmesan as desired.

ALTERNATIVE

To avoid over-cooking the pasta: instead of cooking it al dente and then adding it back to the pot, cook the pasta until it’s done, reserving some of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and immediately transfer it to a big bowl. Add the sauce, the Parmesan cheese, and a little of the reserved pasta water. Stir vigorously, using a whisking motion. Add more cheese and more water if needed, and stir again. The sauce forms beautifully in less than 30 seconds and the pasta will be perfect.