Ingredients
Units
Scale
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- 4 cups cherry tomatoes, preferably freshly-picked from the garden
- 5 –7 large garlic cloves; 2 slices minced (and 4 –5 cloves SLICED, and set aside to be used later in the sauce)
- 2 –3 Tbsp. olive oil
- freshly-cracked sea salt
Thin Spaghetti/Spaghettiini (half of a box for two servings)
Tall pot of boiling water
Freshly-cracked sea salt
SAVE some of the pasta water
- Thin Spaghetti/Spaghettiini (half of a box for two servings)
- Tall pot of boiling water
- Freshly-cracked sea salt
Tomato Sauce
- Roasted tomatoes (from above)
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 –5 garlic cloves, sliced (that was set aside from above)
- 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan (Parmiggiano) cheese
- 2 cups freshly-picked basil leaves
- sugar, if the tomatoes are too tangy for you…..careful, sprinkle on only to the point of taking any tang out of them.
- Freshly-cracked sea salt and black pepper to taste
Garnish
- 1/2 – 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan (Parmiggiano) cheese (to your taste preference)
Instructions
Roasting the tomatoes:
- In a 450 degree oven, roast cherry tomatoes in olive oil and minced garlic until slightly browned and squished (keep an eye on this process).
- Remove from oven and either use immediately or refrigerate for no more than 2 days.
Sauce:
- In a large heavy pan, pour the olive oil and heat on medium-hot heat, and never on a hot setting (olive oil burns easily).
- Add the slices of garlic and cook briefly until golden . . . making sure that the garlic does not burn.
- Add the roasted tomatoes.
- Add freshly-grated parmesan cheese, about a handful or ½ cup.
- Add freshly-cracked sea salt to taste.
- Simmer on low heat while pasta cooks.
Pasta:
- In a tall pot, boil water with about 2 Tbsp. sea salt.
- Add thin spaghetti (spaghettini) noodles and cook until ‘al dente’, no more than 7 minutes.
- Do not throw away the pasta water!
- With a hand-held strainer, remove the pasta from the water, tapping against the side of the pan, and place in the roasted tomato-garlic-Parmesan sauce.
After Cooking the Pasta:
- Add adding the pasta to the tomato-garlic sauce, add some of the hot pasta water (½ cup or so) to the tomato-garlic sauce and pasta to help ‘cream’ it.
- Add more grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup).
- Add freshly-picked basil leaves (about 1 cup).
- Blend gently.
- Salt and pepper according to your taste preferences.
- Add more Parmesan cheese to your taste preferences.
For Meat-Lovers:
- Prepare ahead of time, your favorite Italian meatballs or purchased high-quality pre-made frozen Italian meatballs.
- Heat meatballs and immediately add to the sauce mixture while the pasta is cooking.
Notes
If you find that the fresh taste of garden-fresh-picked tomatoes is a bit too tart for your preference, add a little bit of sugar at a time to take this to a better flavor for you….this is why many Italian cooks often add shredded carrots to their sauces . . . to sweeten and balance some of the tartness of the tomatoes.
AGAIN: this is totally up to you and your taste preferences.
My tomatoes needed about a teaspoon of sugar added this year; but I like the tartness and that’s just me.
Serve with delicious garlic bread and a nice mixed greens salad!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 2 People
- Calories: 0
- Fat: 0
