EASY Roasted Tomato, Garlic, and White Bean Pasta

So, what recipe did I choose to tackle from the "Dreena, I need a recipe for _____" post? None other than angel food cake! I know!! Nothing too simple, right? I could try replicating a poached egg for the next challenge, ha! Seriously though, the reason I'm going to take on veganizing angel food cake is simply because I had SO many requests for it! Really! Apparently many of you have fond memories and recipe variations on angel food cake, and though it was never something I enjoyed a whole lot myself (anyone else notice they'd get a 'squeaky teeth' feel when eating it? or is that my own idiosyncrasy?). So, in a couple of weeks time (after we clear through a couple of busy weeks for our family) I'm going to start testing, and will report the results on our 1st "Dreena, I need a recipe for ______" event! Fun!!

Until then, I have some regular nummies to share with you. To make this divine pasta dish, I employed the method from my Velvety Roasted Herbed Tomato Soup from TEV to roast and caramelize those luscious pieces of tomato and garlic you see adorning the noodles.

In the soup recipe (p. 90 of TEV), the tomatoes and garlic are pureed with the other soup ingredients for this thick, luscious, smooth herbaceous tomato soup. But here, for the pasta, I left the roasted tomatoes and garlic in large, chunky pieces! The method is simple, and yet gives maximum flavah!

So, let's get to how it's done. I prefer to use roma or plum tomatoes, but other varieties can be used. You don't even need to measure for this pasta, just eyeball it. Get 6-8 tomatoes and cut in half, and place on a baking sheet (lined with parchment). Then, get a bunch of garlic cloves, maybe 10 or so, and smash with a knife to remove the skins. Then, cut in halves or quarters, and embed the cut garlic cloves in the juicy pockets of the tomatoes. Shower the tomatoes withdried oregano, basil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and of course extra virgin olive oil - sllllurp! Those tomatoes love that olive oil! Here they are all ready... Pop in the oven and roast 'em up, anywhere from 375 - 400 degrees for about 40 - 50 mins (longer time for lower heat, and also depending on how big the tomatoes are). You'll know they're done when they look like this...


All golden and shriveled and roasty-toasty marvelously good! And - the garlic cloves stay moist in those tomatoes, instead of burning.

That's about it! Get your pasta ready when the tomatoes are just about finished (or you can do the tomatoes ahead of time, no problem)... gently toss the tomatoes and juices (scrape all those juices off the paper) with the pasta, along with some olive oil and s & p to tastel. I also added white beans and fresh basil. Splendid delicious! Not to mention that by using a whole-grain pasta with the white beans, you have a protein-rich dish as well.

What's not to love.... cook it up, my pretties!