Cafe Lago's Roasted Tomato Pasta

I told you all I was holding on to my last tomatoes from the farmer's market with white knuckled panic. Well, I wasn't kidding. Every morning, I'd wake up and pad into the kitchen, caress their soft little skins, cradle them in my cupped palm and sniff their herbal, earthy selves. It pained me to use them up, so I did so sparingly - one tomato here, another one there. But I'd bought six pounds and after two weeks I realized that I was headed towards a mound of ruined rot if I didn't accept the fact that cooking and eating my little friends was their God-given fate.

But what to make? Canned tomatoes, tomato jam, conserva, roasted tomatoes - I needed 30 pounds, not six! In the end, Molly won out - I saw a little corner of an empty plate with seasoned oil in one of her photos and when she told me that tomatoes had once swum in that oil, I was sorta, kinda hooked. I'm easy that way, you know.

So last week I set about sacrificing those last tomatoes of 2008, cutting them in half, ridding them carefully of their seeds, nestling them in a pan of olive oil and seasoning them with my Sicilian oregano, salt and a bit of sugar. Into a slow oven they went, and what torture that was. I'm not ashamed to admit that clock watching ensued. I've got a one-track mind when it comes to tomatoes.

Instead of serving the tomatoes with toasted baguette and Bucheron, I boiled a box of pasta and tossed half the tomatoes, gently chopped, with the hot pasta - the warmth opening up the flavor of the raw garlic and parsley. I normally am not a fan of raw garlic, but here it sharpened and brightened the softer, rounded flavors of the tomatoes that concentrated in the slow heat of the oven, gave a little edge to the sweetness. It was delicious.

The benefit of this preparation was that I had half the tomatoes left over, to be plopped on bread with some cheese for lunch, or served with fried eggs for dinner. Or, and this was really the best, to be popped in my mouth while I stood at the counter, thinking about the seasons changing and the things I have to look forward to as fall comes in. Letting go can be pretty simple when you've got roasted tomatoes to ease the way.

And, bless her heart, Molly says this works pretty well with canned tomatoes, too. What a relief!

Roasted Tomato Pasta
Serves 4 to 6

1 cups (or more) olive oil, divided
2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon sugar (I used less sugar, a little less than 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh Italian parsley
1 pound penne
Parmigiano, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Pour 1/2 cup oil into 13x9x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Arrange tomatoes in dish, cut side up. Drizzle with remaining 1/2 cup oil. Sprinkle with oregano, sugar, and salt. Bake 1 hour. Using tongs, turn tomatoes over. Bake 1 hour longer. Turn tomatoes over again. Bake until deep red and very tender, transferring tomatoes to plate when soft (time will vary, depending on ripeness of tomatoes), about 15 to 45 minutes longer.

2. When the tomatoes have cooled somewhat, gently pull off their peels. Transfer half of the tomatoes and some of the oil to a serving bowl and gently chop with a dull knife in the bowl. Add the garlic and parsley to the tomatoes and mix. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne until al dente. Drain, reserving some of the starchy, salted pasta water. Add the pasta to the tomatoes in the serving dish and add pasta water, as needed, to loosen the sauce. Grate some Parmigiano on top and serve immediately. Refrigerate the rest of the tomatoes in the oil for up to 5 days.

Comments

[A Mouse Bouche]

Seems like this recipe has been making the blog rounds and every time I catch a whiff of it my stomach rumbles. i think it's time to run out and grab the last of the tomatoes and get to work!

[Ellen]

Yum...pasta sounds like a good use for this...

[thyhand]

I just learned to roast tomatoes this summer. I agree, they are wonderful and your pasta looks heavenly! Every morning after I pulled them from roasting overnight, I would eat some for breakfast. If you like quiche, I've found they are a delightful addition. A recipe follows.
www.thyhandhathprovided.blogspot.com/2008/08/pictures-of-food_22.htm

[thyhand]

Sorry, my link didn't fit:-(. I'll try again. thyhandhathprovided.blogspot.com
/2008/08/pictures-of-food_22.htm

[Arundathi]

Gorgeous! that seems like a great sauce for pasta...

[Biz]

I never thought of taking the seeds out of the tomatoes before cooking - I love homemade sauce but the thought of those damn tomato seeds gives me the heebie jeebies!

So, I just cook the tomatoes down and use my trusty stick blender.

I'll have to give your version a try though! Thanks for the idea.

[PetiteKitchen]

This looks absolutely delicious. I am glad to see this, I am craving pasta.

[maggie]

Lovely post. Wishing you a happy fall.

I may still make these—this weekend?

[kim]

I also have a tomato obsession.I will not even eat tomatoes all winter because they are so subpar. One of my favorite childhood memories was sneaking a big bucket down to the garden( my salt shaker in my pocket), flipping the bucket upsidedown in between the rows of tomato plants and eating till my mom would catch me. There will be a special spot in heaven with beautiful tomato plants! Can't wait to try the recipe.

[Molly]

Why haven't I done this yet? You are brilliant, lady. xo

[Jesse]

I once had a roommate that collected tomatoes over a few weeks. All at once she made all of the tomatoes into a salad. Imagine opening the fridge to container upon container of chopped tomato salad. It was shocking! How I wish she knew about this recipe way back then!

[A Mouse Bouche]

Sorry for the double posting, but do you think this would work with tomatoes other than plum? I have a bunch of large vine tomatoes from the greenmarket. wondering what to do with them and I wanted to try this...

[Danielle]

I made this last night, although I added a bit of fresh thyme at the end with the garlic and parsley. Fantastic!

[Bonnie]

Hi Luisa - I have made this twice in the last month from the recipe in Molly's BA column. AMAZING. I have had really good luck with the golf ball sized tomatoes on the vine as well. Mmmmmm.

[Luisa]

A Mouse Bouche: plum/roma tomatoes are better for this kind of treatment because they have very little water and are meant to be cooked, not eaten raw, while vine tomatoes are meant to be eaten raw and therefore have a lot of water (juice). That having been said, if you're okay with roasting them for a little longer, you should be okay.

[ChristinaM]

I made this tonight, with a few tweaks, and enjoyed it. Simple, good food.

I braved the canned tomatoes (San Marzano tho), and subbed fresh oregano for the dried, plus a little Italian seasoning and black pepper and some red pepper flakes. Also quartered a single clove of garlic and roasted that, too. 1 clove of fresh garlic went into the pasta at the end.

In the future, I think this would be excellent with crumbled feta and Kalamata olives, and even chopped zucchini. Do try!

[Lisa]

Making this right now! Smells delicious. I feel like I'm going to have a hard time throwing the oil out when the tomatoes are done...

[Luisa]

Lisa - don't throw out the oil! Use it to dress the pasta... or to dress a salad or use as a dip for bread or, mmm...hungry now...

[Lisa]

I LOVE this--pretty much tomato confit, no? I usually like to throw basil and garlic in with the tomatoes (working from the bouchon recipe) this time I used dried oregano like yours. Yum. Thanks for sharing!

[invierta proyectos]

I look forward to reading more on the topic in the future. Keep up the good work! This blog is going to be great resource. Love reading it.

[Kristine]

I want to try w/ pancetta - mmmm