Grape and cherry tomatoes are in peak season in summer. They’re perfect in quick and simple summer recipes like skewers, salads and make for excellent sauces when you’ve got an excess after a barbecue (or when you’ve been rained out from one). Pasta sauces that don’t require you to stand over a hot stove are an added bonus in summer, so here’s our version of a classic marinara sauce using roasted grape tomatoes, lots of garlic and fresh basil:
Roasted Garlic and Grape Tomato Spaghetti
Via Three Hour Brunch Friend
Ingredients
3 cups of grape tomatoes, halved
1 head of garlic
Handful of fresh basil
1/2 of an onion, sliced
3 tablespoon of olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt*
1 lb of spaghetti [450g]
Preparation
Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
On a baking tray or sheet pan, toss the grape tomatoes and onions in oil and arrange in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt. Cut off the top of the garlic, drizzle with olive oil and wrap loosely in tin foil. Place the wrapped garlic in the centre of your tray. Bake the tomatoes, onions and garlic for about 30 minutes – until the tomatoes are soft. Check the garlic, it should be soft to the touch and squeeze out of their shells easily. Place all your roasted ingredients and some roughly chopped basil in a food processor (we used a hand blender) and crush them into a consistently chunky texture. Set the sauce aside until ready to use.
Prepare spaghetti according to the package. Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain and portion it out to four plates. Spoon the tomato sauce over the spaghetti and drizzle with more olive oil.
*We used Joe Beef‘s Country Salt
Three Hour Brunch Friend 