Roasted tomato and garlic ricotta pasta

You’ll roast cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves and bay leaves, then use the sweet tomato sauce left in the baking dish to mix through ricotta for an insanely delicious, creamy but fresh pasta sauce. Every time I ask my husband what he wants for dinner, this is his answer.

Roasting Tomatoes for pasta

I always advocate for roasting tomatoes rather than using fresh tomatoes to make a sauce. The quick roasting of the tomatoes cuts down on time but achieves so much extra flavor. When you see cherry tomatoes at the grocery store or farmers’ market next, stock up so you can make this sauce ASAP. I have another recipe with roasted tomatoes you will love, my Lemon Pepper Sauce For Pasta.

Ingredients

Fresh tomatoes – I love using cherry tomatoes, they are so full of flavor. Generally any kind will work but get cherry tomatoes if you can.
Garlic cloves – 10 might sound ridiculous but it seems to come out just right I promise!
Extra virgin olive oil – This is a really simple sauce which means if you can, use a really good quality olive oil.
Bay leaves – Either fresh or dried will work here. If you don’t have access to bay leaves just leave them out.
Ricotta cheese – If you can’t find any use mascarpone or crème fraîche. I am planning to do a note about making fresh ricotta at home, it’s so easy!
Lemon juice – Fresh lemon juice cuts through the richness of the cheese and just adds a delicious bright flavour.
Parmesan cheese – As always, freshly grated! I also like to use a micro-plane to create little cheese mounds like in this sauce.
Sea salt and black pepper – I mix a lot of freshly ground black pepper into the sauce which is a nod to a classic cacio e pepe! If you love that peppery flavor, be sure to check out my Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe recipe. Salt and pepper is obviously completely to your own taste.
Fresh herbs – This is optional but if you have some parsley or basil around it is a lovely finishing touch.

Tips

Roasting the tomatoes in a baking dish that you can use on the stove top will create less dishes. I use a cast iron baking dish that can go from the oven onto the stove top with the ricotta mixed in as well.
I don’t like to season this dish very much, it needs little help. If serving with a lot of parmesan on top you won’t need to add too much salt into the sauce, personally I never add any.
Use dried pasta for ease! I used fresh pasta like tagliatelle in the photos because it looks so pretty but it will taste just as good with anything else.
Use the tomato juice left in the pan to loosen the finished pasta into. If you need to use any of the juices in the pan to loosen the cheese when mixing, do so!
Try and make my suggestions for the garlicky sourdough bread crumbs, they really add something special on top.
Make sure you are saucing the pasta in the sauce for a good few minutes at the end, it helps any sauce thicken and also allows the flavors to be absorbed into the pasta. Check my tips on my Coconut Milk Pasta Sauce.

How to make pasta with roasted tomatoes

You know I don’t do any long and labor intensive recipes, EVER! This one is what I would class as quick and easy. You just have to be slightly organized as your pasta will be cooking while you mix the sauce.

The full ingredients and method are below in the recipe card!

Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees and in the bottom of a large baking dish put the olive oil.
Arrange the tomatoes and garlic on top and the bay leaves, season with a little salt and pepper.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 15 mins, then uncovered for another 10 – 15. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl put the ricotta, lemon juice, parmesan and black pepper and combine to a smooth paste.
Boil your pasta in a large pot of water until al dente in salted water. Reserve a cup of pasta water. I always save pasta water, as it’s a key ingredient in so many of my sauces! You can see how I use it in my Mafaldine Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce recipe.
Pour the mixture into the juices left in the roasted tomato pan on a medium heat on the stove.
Add the cooked pasta and mix, add some of the starchy pasta water if you need to loosen.
Finish with fresh herbs and parmesan on top .

Storing and re-heating

This really is a fresh recipe and won’t benefit from being stored and re-heated. You could make the sauce in advance but get the best experience eating this pasta right away.

Roasted tomato and garlic ricotta pasta.

Substitutions

Ricotta – If you can’t find any use mascarpone or crème fraîche. I am planning to do a note about making fresh ricotta at home, it’s so easy!

Herbs – I used fresh parsley but basil would also be delicious. As it is already a rich sauce I like the cuts through quality of parsley.

Breadcrumbs – I topped the finished dish with parmesan, parsley and some of my Quick Garlicky Sourdough Breadcrumbs . It’s worth doing if you have some time.

Made this recipe and loved it?

I would LOVE if you could leave me a review down below and let me know what you thought! I love to hear any tweaks or adaptations you have made too. Also if you put a photo on instagram , please tag @minelabakes so I can see, it makes my day!

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