Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta. The type of pasta is your choice, long like spaghetti, or shorter types.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large non stick pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter, when melted and hot, add the smashed garlic. Saute until garlic is softened, smash the garlic as it cooks as well.

Add the cherry tomatoes into the pan, season with a pinch of salt. Saute to soften the tomatoes.

When the pasta is almost tender, take a cup of pasta water and add to the pan along with the remaining butter. Stir to melt the butter into the water and mixed into the garlic and tomatoes, crushing some of the tomatoes as you stir. This will make a silky butter sauce.

Transfer the pasta to the pan using tongs or a pasta fork, or just a large slotted spoon.

Mix the pasta with the sauce, season with salt and red pepper flakes as desired. Mix in some Parmesan cheese to your liking.

Optionally, you can add a handful or two of bread crumbs to the pasta and mix that in.

Serve with additional Parmesan cheese for garnish if desired.