Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes And Pasta

I have been so into tomatoes lately.  This is odd though, because I really don’t tend to be a tomato girl.  It’s a food I have had to teach myself to really eat, and still to this day, I don’t like whole slices of tomatoes by themselves.

Roasted tomatoes though… now that’s a different story! When I saw these gorgeous organic heirloom tomatoes at Whole Foods the other day, I grabbed them up like a greedy squirrel.  I used them to make the tomato salad that I took to the Slow Food $5 Challenge.

The tomatoes that remained, I chopped up, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, organic fresh thyme, organic fresh oregano and loads and loads of organic fresh minced garlic.  You will NEVER go wrong with these ingredients together.  EVER.

Left as they were, they would have made another great fresh salad, but I thought to roast them for a good chunk of time to concentrate the flavors and then mix them with gluten free spaghetti.

There was no recipe for this, and I didn’t measure a thing.  It’s something I encourage everyone to do, because there is an intuitive rhythm that goes with really paying attention to the flavors you mix in, the amounts that ‘look’ right, and trusting your gut.  You’ll notice in the images below that I placed the tomatoes and other ingredients on a flat cookie sheet.  Being that I’m still unpacking, it was all I had, but quickly realized that if I wanted to capture and use all these amazing juices that were going to be coming off of the tomatoes, it would have to be roasted in something else.

I placed it all in a deep Corningware dish and into the oven it went.  An hour and a half later, most of the tomato chunks had softened into a thick mush and the smell was pure bliss.  I took the roasted dish and mixed it into the bowl of just made al dente gluten free spaghetti, topped it with some freshly picked basil, drizzled with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and dug in. Its an easy dish for a casual evening and I encourage everyone to try it.  Tomatoes should be around for a while longer depending on where you are.

Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes And Pasta – The Un Recipe

~Organic Local Heirloom Tomatoes cut into large chunks

~Organic Local Fresh Thyme

~Organic Local Fresh Oregano

~Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

~Salt and pepper

~Organic chopped, sliced or minced garlic

Take all the ingredients in whatever quantities *feel* right to you.  Do it.  Trust me.  Its near impossible to go wrong with these ingredients together.  They make a perfect marriage in so many ways!  Arrange them in an oven proof dish and roast them at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half.  Keep on eye on them from time to time, you can leave them in longer for a more savory taste.

Once done pour all of it over just made gluten free pasta, mix together so the roasted tomatoes and the juices coat the noodles and then toss in some organic freshly picked basil over it.  Utter perfection!

Enjoy!