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Creamy Roasted Tomato Pasta with Basil & Parmesan

A few years ago, when we weren’t leaving our houses much, I was ordering all of my groceries rather than going into the store and shopping myself. I can’t explain why this happened, but I also seemed to stop checking my kitchen to see what I already had before placing my orders (it was a rough time!). As a result, the tomato stock in my kitchen kept going up and up and I couldn’t use them fast enough.

Trying to figure out what to do with the tomatoes I had (usually a mixture of Roma tomatoes and assorted grape and cherry tomatoes), and not always in the mood for Roasted Tomato Soup (which is also a delicous option), I came up with this Creamy Roasted Tomato Pasta with Basil & Parmesan recipe. Jump to now, a few years later, when I’m back in the stores again, I still find myself buying lots of tomatoes with the idea that I’ll be making bruchetta and pico de gallo and lots of salads only to have them sitting around over-ripening. It’s a good thing I have this recipe. In fact, I enjoy this recipe so much, sometimes I buy the tomatoes specifically for this pasta sauce.

Making this pasta does take a little time, but very little of it is active. Once you get the tomatoes and garlic tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, they go into the oven for an hour or so, until a lot of the water has evaporated, the tomatoes have collapsed and started to brown. Roasting the tomatoes intensifies their flavour while also mellowing out the garlic.

I recommend using a cermic dish like this one or something similar, that will clean up easily. When it’s done roasting, everything gets thrown into a blender and whizzed up until smooth. You can boil the pasta at that point, or chill the sauce and heat it up when you’re ready for it. You can also freeze it at this point, thaw and finish when you need it.

The final sauce is thick enough to coat the pasta — I like to use penne or rigatoni. These two shapes are hearty enough to handle the sauce and I like that both the inside and outside of the pasta get coated in sauce, but you can use another pasta shape if you prefer. Just follow the cooking directions on the package.

If you’ve purchased too many tomatoes or your garden is producing them faster than you can eat them or you just want a delicious pasta, this is the recipe you need!

Creamy Roasted Tomato Pasta with Basil & Parmesan

A hearty pasta made with roasted tomatoes and garlic, cream and basil. A great way to use your summer tomato harvest.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. / 908 grams tomatoes
  • 5 large garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 oz. / 28 grams butter (2 Tbsp.)
  • 1 oz. / 28 grams grated parmesan cheese (approximately 4 Tbsp.)
  • 1/4 cup whipping cream
  • 12 oz. / 340 grams dry penne or rigatoni pasta
  • 8-10 large basil leaves, cut into thin strips plus small leaves for garnishing

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 425ºF / 220°C.
  2. If you’re using cherry and grape tomatoes, you can leave them whole. If your are using Roma tomatoes or a combination, cut the larger tomatoes into chunks about the size of a grape or cherry tomato. Combine the tomatoes, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a roasting dish and stir well.
  3. Roast the tomatoes for 30 minutes and stir them, then roast another 30-40 minutes, or until the tomatoes have collapsed and the edges and skin have started to brown.
  4. Carefully transfer the tomatoes and garlic to a blender and add the butter, parmesan cheese, and cream and blend everything together until relatively smooth.
  5. At this point, you can transfer the sauce to a container and cool down and chill until you’re ready to use, or you can pour the sauce into a large sauce pan to use right away.
  6. If using immediately, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook your pasta 1-2 minutes less than what the instructions on the packaging calls for. Before draining the pasta, remove approximaely 1 cup of cooking liquid from the pot.
  7. As the pasta is cooking, warm the sauce over medium-low heat in the sauce pan, stirring frequently. If you’ve just made the sauce, this will only take a a couple of minutes, it the sauce is chilled it will take 4-6 minutes to heat up. Add a 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water to the sauce and stir through.
  8. Add the drained pasta to the warm sauce and mix well. Cook another 1-2 minutes until the pasta is al dente, stirring, and adding more of the reserved pasta cooking water as needed.
  9. Add the sliced basil and stir through.
  10. Taste and check for seasoning, adjusting as needed.
  11. Serve garnished with the small, tender basil leaves.

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