Roasted Tomato Pasta

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The prep work is minimal in this one-pot, one-pan recipe. You don’t have to cut the tomatoes, and you can quickly smash the garlic cloves with a chef’s knife. You can chop your basil or just tear it with your hands to keep things super simple.

Roasting does something magical to tomatoes. That time in a hot oven brings out their intense flavor. Stirring a little balsamic vinegar with the tomatoes, garlic and olive oil adds a pleasant tartness. 

You can stir the cooked pasta into the tomatoes in the pan, which makes cleanup a breeze. Then you just have to wash the pot and the baking dish. Again, this recipe is all about doing as little as possible, but still ending up with a fantastic summer dinner.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes: These small tomatoes are great because they roast in about a half hour, and they get very juicy—not to the point of a full sauce, but definitely more than enough to coat the noodles. Roasting can even revive out-of-season tomatoes. 
• Garlic: To eliminate prep work and because I don’t want the garlic to burn in the oven, I smash the garlic cloves instead using minced garlic like I do in stovetop recipes such as my fresh roma tomato sauce. All that garlic gives this roasted cherry tomato pasta so much flavor.
• Balsamic vinegar: As the tomatoes roast, they caramelize, bringing out their natural sweetness. Balsamic vinegar contrasts that with its tart flavor and acidity, enhancing the tomatoes.
• Dried spices: I season the tomatoes and garlic with red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper.
• Pasta: I like orecchiette because the ear-shaped noodles scoop up bits of tomatoes and their juices. You can substitute with other short pasta shapes like penne or fusilli. You can use gluten-free pasta.
• Parmesan: As I plate the tomato pasta, I finish it with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. You can leave it out to keep the dish vegan or use nutritional yeast or a plant-based, dairy free parmesan. 
• Basil: For fresh herbs, I garnish the pasta with basil. You can keep smaller leaves whole and chop or tear larger ones into pieces.
• Olive oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil for the best taste.

How To Make This Roasted Tomato Pasta Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. 

1. Put the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in the baking dish. Stir all the ingredients together, so the tomatoes and garlic are coated in the oil-vinegar mixture.

2. Roast the tomatoes. Give them 25-30 minutes. The tomatoes will become soft, wrinkled and juicy. Some skins will split. 

3. Cook the pasta. Do this toward the end of roasting time. Simmer the orecchiette in salted boiling water until al dente following the recommended cook time on the package instructions.

4. Squish some of the tomatoes. Take a fork and gently press down on about a third of them. This helps the tomatoes burst and take on a more saucy consistency.

5. Toss the orecchiette with the roasted tomatoes in the pan.

6. Top the pasta with grated parmesan and fresh basil as you serve it.

Serving

You can pair this pasta dish with leafy greens like this lemon arugula salad, a classic house salad or an Italian chopped salad. I also like piece of crusty bread on the side to dip into the tomatoes.

Leftovers & Storage

You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. To reheat the pasta, sauté it in a skillet over low to medium heat or warm it in the microwave. If you don’t stir the pasta into the tomatoes, you can freeze the roasted tomato sauce up to 1 month. Thaw it in the refrigerator. Then reheat the tomatoes in a skillet on the stove and stir in cooked pasta.