Thursday, April 10, 2008

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!

25 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

oh. my. goodness. gracious. Dreena, that pasta dish looks MAGNIFICENT!!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Hooray for angel food cake! The pasta looks amazing!

Ruby Red said...

You are a genius in baking and cooking and all things food-related! It's almost cute how the wee garlic cloves make little homes inside the roasted tomatoes. :) And veganizing the poached egg would be funny, though I would probably never try it.

I also made your Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies tonight - so, so wonderful, as always.

aTxVegn said...

My son hated tomatoes until I started roasting or grilling them. We will LOVE this recipe!

Could you do a souffle after the angel food cake?

Chessa said...

Mmm, I love oven roasted tomatoes! I usually just eat them plain, but over pasta sounds like a great plan! I can taste the caramelization already.

Meat-free Mike said...

Looks like an extended version of aglia olio - my favorite pasta dish! Oil+pasta+garlic+tomatoes+herbs= one happy Meat-free Mike! Thanks - I think I'll try this in the next few days.

Anonymous said...

That looks amazing! I can't wait to try it...

darkfaeriecreations@gmail.com said...

looks so good! we may be having this tonight. I'm so glad you decided to tackle the angel food cake...I can't wait to have my b-day cake again!!!!! Weeeeeeeeee! Have a fabulous weekend!

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

Ooh, I don't even really like tomatoes and I think those look mouth-watering! I can't wait to see the angel food cake recipe, too

Michelle said...

drooool.. tomatoes are now on my grocery list, hope to make this tomorrow!

Animal-Friendly said...

angel food cake? Wow! You sure are brave! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Garlic in tomatoes? So simple it makes me think "why didn't I think of that?" but I'm so glad you did! It looks absolutely delicious.

mustardseed said...

Nice work!! And I CANNOT wait for angel food cake!

Anonymous said...

Those tomatoes and that pasta look absolutely delicious, Dreena. You should have that recipe in your next cookbook! And I can't wait for your vegan angel food cake!! I can't imagine how that will work. I have my own request for you, but I will email you later about it as I have pictures to send you of my attempt at veganizing this normally dairy and egg laden creation that I wanted to make.

Simple and Divine said...

Dreena: I'm an ENORMOUS fan of yours... Hopefully it wont dissapoint you too much to see that I'm not a vegan, nor am I a vegetarian. Although I would L.O.V.E. to embark on that lifestyle, my family would not. It's so complicated but anyways, I wanted to ask you and anyone else reading this a couple of questions regarding a recipe for Passover Pecan Bars! The recipe is from Cooking Light Magazine and it's fabulous, but I need to cut down on the sugar quite a bit for the health-conscious eaters in my family! However, It's so important for me to have these bars be the best that they can be, both flavor-wise and texture! I posted more details on my blog and if anyone would be willing to check it out, I would REALLY appreciate your time! Thanks so much and I hope everyone has a wonderful saturday!

(OH...and I tried making the ChocoChip Cookies, and for some reason, they turned out like Scones!! Or maybe even Chocolate Chip Breads? Weird, but they were still D.I.V.I.N.E.)

Anonymous said...

Dreena!
I finally got ED&BV in the mail almost a month ago, but since I have been at school I haven't gotten the chance to cook with it.
Well, this morning I got up early and made my parents breakfast! I started out making the breakfast crepes with bananas and celestial cream, however I didn't have spelt flour so I used regular flour (I wasn't sure how to adjust the measurements so I used the 1 cup the recipe called for). It seemed a little thick so I added more soy milk, however when I tried my hand in flipping the crepes, they turned out awful. I couldn't come up with 1 good one. They tasted nice though! So, instead, I made cinnamon pancakes, and the celestial cream turned out great! It tasted like a yummy cinnamon roll, and it was heavenly just like the name suggests (immediately after breakfast I went to Whole Foods and got some spelt flour :-)
Then, tonight I made your Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vive and they were also very awesome. While I was waiting for my first batch to bake, I stood in the kitchen eating the cookie dough. Once they were done, I took your advice and made an ice cream sandwich. It was so good! You are awesome!!

hannah said...

i also always hated angel food cake.
i mean, it was pretty dry and there is no chocolate. what's to miss?

Unknown said...

I think I will be trying this today!

urban vegan said...

This sounds so good--love the "velvety"--esp since it's unseasonably cool here.

Anonymous said...

I just bought your Eat, Drink and Be Vegan cookbook and I LOVE it! I'm having a Goddess Chickpea sandwich for lunch, and we're having the Cocoa-Coconut Chili for dinner. Thanks for all the great recipes :)

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Oh, you totally got me roasting tomatoes last year! Can't wait for the season to begin again :) I'm really trying to buy in-season and local, so it'll be a while! :( Looks wonderful!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Those tomatoes looks fabulous!! and vegan angel food cake?!! There are no vegan boundaries for you, and that's why you're my hero!! :)

funwithyourfood said...

I love how tomatoes just explode with flavor when you roast them.
I've never been a huge angel cake fan either, not sure about the "clean teeth" feeling though ;) lol

Teddy

Dreena said...

Thanks everyone for your notes and feedback. xo!

simpleanddivine, I'm not disappointed in the least. I hope to show more and more folks that vegan eating is easy, fun, AND delicious!! So, thank you for your input and kind words. Now, those pecan bars look incredible!! I'd love to have my hand at them, but I am chock full of to-do's right now, and for the next 3 or 4 weeks. It's just a very busy time for my family. But, you've definitely intrigued me so I'm going to put the recipe in my print-off pile to evaluate some more. :)

Hi Alice! Yayyyy!! So fun to hear you've been cracking open ed&bv and enjoying it. You are lovely to cook up some treats for your parents as well. As for the spelt flour vs. white flour... yes, there is definitely a differene, and for that recipe, I'd use just about 3/4 cup + 1/2 - 1 tbsp of white flour to sub for the spelt. I have a 'wheat-free' post planned, and I really should get to it soon b/c I think many of my readers would find it helpful (tho there are some notes about w/f baking in ed&bv, see p.173) I love your instinct of making cinnamon pancakes with the celestial cream - that *does* sound like a breakfast cinnamon roll - yummy! Thanks for all the feedback, and I hope you continue to enjoy the recipes.

Catherine Weber said...

Yum! My BF would especially love this, since the more garlic, in his opinion, the better!

P.S. I just finished posting pictures from my recent trip to Haiti -- come check 'em out, if you have a chance!

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm not a vegan, but always love to hear about recipes that are delicious and healthy, and let's be honest here, that's basically a lot of vegetarian dishes. So thanks for all the ideas!