ROASTED TOMATO PASTA PUTTANESCA
A thinner “sauce” of roasted tomatoes is used in this Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta Puttanesca, which sticks to the starchy pasta after mixing.
With sweet grape or cherry tomatoes, it’s a summer dinner to die for, but it’s perfect year-round.
You can also cut and bake larger tomatoes if you have them.
AN EXCELLENT WAY TO USE GARDEN CHERRY TOMATOES
Soon, my parents’ tomato farm will be in full operation. It’s not unusual for us to have a pint of ripening cherry tomatoes every day. A great problem to have is that we can’t keep up, which is a wonderful thing.
Try this recipe as soon as possible if you have a similar bounty in your own garden or at your local market.
To make this dish, we use roasted cherry tomatoes instead of a thicker tomato sauce, which makes the pasta puttanesca stick to your hands after you’ve mixed it all together. Perfection.
FLAVORS AND TEXTURES THAT WORK TOGETHER
This pasta puttanesca recipe does, however, necessitate some time spent in the oven. There’s only 20 minutes left! Even so, it’s worth the effort. The natural sweetness of the cherry tomatoes is brought out by roasting them, resulting in an interesting texture contrast.
Tomatoes can lose their shape after just one or two turns in the oven, depending on how much blistering and wilting they’ve undergone. You’ll be able to enjoy a puttanesca sauce that is both intensely roasted and fresh at the same time, thanks to this method.
The sweetness of the cherry tomatoes perfectly balances the little bitterness of the olives and the tang of the capers.
Anchovies and Parmesan cheese round out the flavor profile for the perfect summer supper. Simply eliminate the anchovies and use vegan cheese if you’d like to make this dish vegan/vegetarian!
INGREDIENTS
- 12 oz. of dried thin spaghetti
- 6 cloves of sliced garlic
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 2 pints of cherry tomatoes
- 2/3 cup of pitted and roughly chopped Kalamata olives
- 5 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 3 tablespoons of drained capers
- 3 tablespoons of julienned basil
- 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper
- Grated Parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Boil pasta in salted water at 400°F degrees. Sprinkle the cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil should be drizzled on. Place in the oven, then cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
- While that is happening, preheat a sizable skillet (one big enough to fit all of your pasta in) to medium heat. Add the garlic and anchovies along with the remaining 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Sauté garlic and anchovies for 3–4 minutes.
- Your water ought to be boiling by this point. Add the spaghetti and cook it for 1 minute less than recommended on the package (the pasta should be barely “al dente”). At least 1 cup of the pasta boiling water should be set aside.
- The olives, capers, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and anchovies go with the garlic and anchovies. Add the pasta and combine everything, constantly stirring for a minute to let the pasta soak up the liquid in the pan. To give it a silky texture, add 1/3 cup of pasta water (or more as needed) if it starts to look dry. The spaghetti will absorb the extra liquid if you keep tossing it. Add the herbs and top with Parmesan cheese before serving.