Tonight, I made one of my family's favorite pasta dishes. My husband always says we could fool people at a restaurant with this dish. He believes no one would know that it's gluten free.
Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes & White Beans
Ingredients
2 or 3 small containers or one large container of grape tomatoes
6 large garlic cloves - peeled
1/4 C olive oil
Kosher salt - to taste
Coarse ground black pepper - to taste
1 can (15 or 19 oz) cannellini beans - rinsed
1 lb gluten free pasta
1/3 C fresh basil - chopped
Romano or Parmesan cheese to taste
Optional - 2 C baby spinach (chopped) + scant 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Optional - large ball of fresh mozzarella (cut into small cubes) or 8oz Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella Pearls
Optional - 2 C baby spinach (chopped) + scant 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Optional - large ball of fresh mozzarella (cut into small cubes) or 8oz Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella Pearls
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with grape tomatoes and 6 cloves of peeled garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Season generously with kosher salt and black pepper. Stir the mixture around and roast uncovered for 30 minutes. Add the cannellini beans to the tomato mixture when it has 15 minutes left to cook. When the tomato mixture has finished cooking, remove the garlic cloves and mash them with a fork. Optional - add the spinach, and stir it into the warm tomato and bean mixture.
Cook the pasta in a large pot, according to package directions. Drain the pasta, then put the cooked tomatoes, beans, garlic, basil, and pasta back into the pasta pot, stirring to combine. Add Romano or Parmesan cheese to taste, and extra salt and pepper, if needed.
Optional - Add the reserved pasta water.
Optional - Garnish each bowl with fresh mozzarella.
Optional - Add the reserved pasta water.
Optional - Garnish each bowl with fresh mozzarella.
Recipe Notes
When cooking pasta, always use at least 1 tablespoon of salt in the water, or you will end up with tasteless pasta.
We have successfully used a variety of different tomatoes with this recipe. If you use larger tomatoes, cut them in half, squeeze out most of the seeds, then cut them into small pieces, about the size of a grape tomato. I prefer to use a large container of grape tomatoes from Costco.
We have successfully used a variety of different tomatoes with this recipe. If you use larger tomatoes, cut them in half, squeeze out most of the seeds, then cut them into small pieces, about the size of a grape tomato. I prefer to use a large container of grape tomatoes from Costco.
If you are not using reserved pasta water, and your tomato mixture seems dry after roasting, add additional olive oil.
You can read about the different brands of gluten free pasta we use in my blog post Pasta - You Don't Have to Settle.
April 2015 Update
Tonight, I added spinach to this dish for the first time, and my kids did not even notice. I guess they thought it was basil. I also reserved a scant half cup of the pasta water to add to my pasta once I stirred everything around in the pot, a technique I learned from Mario Batali on The Chew. I added 6 tablespoons of grated Romano, along with more salt and pepper, until I was satisfied with the taste. I garnished my pasta tonight with my favorite Italian 3 cheese blend of Romano, Parmesan and Asiago from The Fresh Market. I also added some mozzarella balls once I took this picture.
Oh my goodness this looks so good. If only my husband would eat cooked tomatoes (he's such a weirdo and wont eat whole tomatoes, cooked or not cooked) lol
ReplyDeleteI would make this for myself though :p
I used to not like cooked tomatoes myself, but the grape tomatoes are so nice and sweet. :-)
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