Penne With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Total Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound small cherry tomatoes, halved
- ⅓cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons for tossing
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼cup freshly grated pecorino romano, more for serving
- ¼cup bread crumbs
- ½pound penne
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
500 calories; 28 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 52 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 478 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line bottom of casserole dish with cherry tomatoes in a single layer, halved side up. Pour oil on top, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese and bread crumbs on top. Bake until tomatoes have wilted, about 20 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with enough sea salt so that water tastes mildly of salt. When tomatoes are just about done, add penne to water and cook until al dente (it should be pliable, but still firm in center). Scoop out about a cup of pasta water and reserve. Drain pasta and add to casserole. Fold tomatoes and pasta together, adding another 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning. If it is dry, add a little reserved pasta water. Serve, passing more grated cheese at the table.
Private Notes
Comments
I make this often. I include 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely, to the halved grape tomatoes, a Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and occasionally red bell pepper. I roast at 375 for about 40 minutes and serve with fresh basil and grated cheese. It ALWAYS gets compliments.
I don't understand why the NYT recipes always slather otherwise healthy meals in olive oil or butter. I get that it tastes great that way but for those of us on diets (most of us, I'd wager) many recipes work just fine cutting back on the oil. @Sam Sifton, can there be a side note included on creative ways to lighten up some of these recipes?
I added basil and garlic to the tomatoe mixture.I also omitted the extra olive oil when tossing the pasta together with the veggie mix.
If you have good tomatoes from a garden, no adjustments are needed to this recipe, apart from reducing the olive oil to taste. That said, I can’t resist adding a little crushed garlic to the tomatoes. But seriously, even basil is gilding the lily; the tomatoes are meant to shine. (On that same note, if you have mediocre tomatoes, you might be better off trying a different recipe that adds a bunch of ingredients to supply the missing flavour.)
It’s delicious! Made this with no changes, except for that strange instruction about adding the cooked pasta to the baking dish. Dump the tomato mixture into the pot with the drained noodles! Then you can add pasta water as needed, and stir everything well to emulsify the sauce, over heat. Next time I will roast garlic cloves with the tomatoes, and mash the cooked cloves into the sauce. Garlic and pecorino are a match! And…I used farfalle because I prefer the chewy mouthfeel over penne.
I made this as written and won't make it again. I found it bland and uninteresting. Disappointing.