pasta with roasted tomatoes & garlic

This is one of my favourite, easy-to-make pasta dishes.  Roasted tomatoes are the bee’s knees!  The heat releases the tomatoes natural sugars resulting in an intense flavor.  Throw in a head of garlic and you have the most delicious roasted tomatoes you will ever devour! Any leftover tomatoes can easily be kept in a container covered with olive oil for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

ingredients

900g (about 2 lbs) cherry tomatoes
1 head of garlic (more if that’s your thang)
olive oil
pasta (spaghettini or linguine)
fresh basil, sliced or roughly torn
burratini (optional but so decadent)
Parmigiano reggiano, grated

method

Preheat the oven to 375f (190c). In an ovenproof dish large enough to hold the tomatoes and garlic, add a generous splash of olive oil (coat the bottom of the dish).  Place tomatoes in the dish and season with sea salt.  Cut the top off the head of garlic and fit it into the dish.  Drizzle garlic with some olive oil.  Roast for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have begun to soften and shrink a bit.

When the tomatoes have 15 minutes left for roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain pasta but reserve ½ cup of the water.  Remove roasted tomatoes from the oven.  Take the garlic and squish each clove into the tomato dish.  Use a fork to crush tomatoes into the garlic.  Add drained pasta and toss to combine.  If the sauce is a bit dry, add some of the pasta water.  Add basil and gently toss.  Top each portion with a burratini, Parmigiano Reggiano, and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

the culinary chase’s note:

I roasted the tomatoes on the vine and used scissors to snip the tomatoes free from the vine.  The first time I roasted on a parchment-lined tray but subsequent times I used a baking dish large enough to accommodate the pasta.  Enjoy!