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This Roasted Tomatoes Pasta Recipe is perfect for using up all of those end of season fresh garden tomatoes. Roasted to perfection alongside roasted garlic and tossed with simple ingredients like pasta, cheese and fresh basil. It doesn’t get any fresher than this!
Why You’ll Love this Roasted Tomatoes Pasta
This easy pasta dish comes together quickly making it a perfect weeknight meal. Healthy, flavorful and easy using garden fresh tomatoes (cherry, grape, plum, roma tomatoes all work well here), fresh basil and garlic, even the pickiest eaters will be fans, and you can feel good about serving a meal that packs so many good nutrients and flavors. Take it up another healthy notch and use whole wheat spaghetti noodles.
Roasted Garlic? I’ve Never Done That Before!
If you have never worked with a whole garlic bulb, you are in for a treat! Roasted garlic deepens the flavor in any dish it’s added to. I have a detailed post on the details of roasted garlic, and how to store and use it in other recipes.
The roasting process concentrates the sugars, which transforms it into a sweet caramelized, spreadable, buttery texture, with deep complex flavors, removing all the sharpness, pungency and bite. For many, raw fresh garlic isn’t easily digestible. Roasting it makes it easier to digest for many people. It adds so much flavor to dips, pastas and even as a spread. It’s my favorite way to eat garlic!
How to Make Roasted Tomatoes Pasta
For full recipe details, including ingredients and measurements needed, see the printable recipe card down below. Here is step by step what you can expect making this incredible pasta dish:
Preheat Oven + Add Tomatoes + Basil to Skillet
Preheat oven to 450° F. Add fresh tomatoes and basil to a small cast iron skillet (or baking sheet). Drizzle generously with half of the extra virgin olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and salt and black pepper and stir until tomatoes are evenly coated. Set aside.
Pro Tip: When selecting your tomatoes, you want very ripe tomatoes, but not over ripe. They should be firm, yet a bit soft on the outside and deep in color. Ripe tomatoes will easily come off the vine and be shiny and glossy.
Add the Garlic Bulb
Slice 1/4 inch or so off the top of the garlic bulb to reveal the garlic cloves. Create a spot for the garlic bulb by moving some tomatoes aside. Place cut side up. Drizzle the top with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
Roast in the Oven
Place in preheated oven and roast for 30-35 minutes or until tomatoes are browned and bursting.
Cook Spaghetti (While Tomatoes are Roasting)
In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt the water generously and add pasta to the pot, stirring for about 30 seconds to ensure no noodles stick together. Cook pasta according to al dente package directions on box.
BEFORE draining the cooked pasta, reserve about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of pasta water. Drain and add spaghetti noodles back to the pot.
Add Roasted Tomatoes, Basil + Garlic to the Spaghetti
To the pot, add the roasted tomatoes and basil (along with the pan juices) and squeeze out the roasted cloves of garlic, discarding the garlic paper. Add the remainder of the extra-virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese. Add up to a cup of pasta water as needed to loosen up the sauce.
Season with Italian seasoning, and more salt and pepper to taste (if needed). Stir until well combined.
If you like a little heat, add some red pepper flakes to the finished dish!
Serve + Garnish with More Cheese and Basil
Serve hot with additional parmesan cheese and garnish with chiffonade basil. Enjoy!
Storing Leftovers
This dish is best enjoyed the day you make it. If you do have some leftovers, allow to cool to room temperature. Then place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Beyond that time, the fresh flavors won’t pop like they used to.
Make Ahead
If you’re looking to save some time, you can roast the tomatoes and garlic a day or two before you want to serve. Allow tomatoes and garlic to cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. Be sure to reheat before adding the pasta.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, any pasta will work in this dish. Linguini, spaghetti, angel hair, penne, farfalle etc. You can even make this gluten free by using GF pasta. Use what you prefer and have on hand.
I like to use similarly sized, small tomatoes. Fresh cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, and grape tomatoes are very flavorful and are similar in size. If you have larger tomatoes that you want to use, I would cut them into smaller pieces.
Yes! If you want to add some chicken or shrimp to the pasta, feel free to add or customize how you’d like. You can also add in fresh spinach or other extra veggies. Other fresh herbs like thyme sprigs or oregano would work well with the fresh flavor of this delicious pasta. Extra olive oil, balsamic vinegar and/or chili flakes for a little heat would all be great finishers to this dish.
Yes! If you’d like to freeze this meal to store for a longer period of time, allow to cool to room temperature before placing in a freezer safe container or resealable bag. Roasted Tomatoes Pasta will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Yes, you can! You can roast and store them a day or two in advance. When you’re ready to use them, heat them up before adding to the pasta.
More Tomato Recipes to Try!
Here are a few more tomato recipes that you can use up those end of season tomatoes from your garden.
- Fresh Tomato Salsa
- Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad
- Tomato Pie
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Roasted Tomato Bolognese Sauce
- Bruschetta Pizza
- Fried Green Tomatoes
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
Roasted Tomatoes Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups tomatoes cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, roma tomatoes, plum tomatoes, etc.
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil divided
- fresh basil whole leaves for roasting and chiffonade for serving
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper or to taste
- 1/2 lb spaghetti
- 1/2-1 cup pasta water
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated, plus more for serving
- 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° F.
- Add fresh tomatoes and fresh basil to a small cast iron skillet (or baking sheet). Drizzle generously with half of the extra virgin olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and salt and black pepper and stir until tomatoes are evenly coated. Set aside.
- Slice 1/4 inch or so off the top of the garlic bulb to reveal cloves.
- Create a spot for the garlic bulb by moving some tomatoes aside. Place cut side up. Drizzle the top with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
- Place in preheated oven and roast for 30-35 minutes or until tomatoes are browned and bursting.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt the water generously and add pasta to the pot, stirring for about 30 seconds to ensure no noodles stick together. Cook pasta according to al dente package directions on box. Drain and add back to pot.
- BEFORE draining the pasta, reserve about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain and add spaghetti noodles back to the pot.
- To the pot, add the roasted tomatoes and basil (along with the pan juices) and squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves, discarding the garlic paper. Add the remainder of the extra-virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese. Add the pasta water as needed to loosen up the sauce. Season with italian seasoning, and more salt and pepper to taste (if needed). Stir until well combined.
- Serve hot with additional parmesan cheese and garnish with chiffonade basil. Enjoy!
