Well I have news for you. This pasta salad is anything BUT mediocre or mayonnaise-laden. It's bold, bursting with flavor, and made using fresh and healthy ingredients.
This recipe is an excellent way to take advantage of the last few crops of gorgeous summer tomatoes gracing the supermarket. Hothouse tomatoes that are widely available during the wintertime absolutely pale in comparison as far as color, flavor, and texture. In fact, you are lucky to find cherry or grape tomatoes during the winter months at all.
Here is what you will need (Makes 4 servings):
- 1/2 lb of tubular pasta, such as penne or rigatoni (1/2 lb = 1/2 a standard package)
- 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
- 8 oz ricotta cheese (1/2 a standard 16oz container. I used part-skim but you could use full fat or fat free if you wish)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 10 sprigs of fresh thyme
- zest of 2 lemons
- freshly cracked pepper
- salt
Step 2: Slice your tomatoes in half lengthwise using a very sharp knife. I had to sharpen mine halfway through this step because my knife was squishing the tender 'toms before it was cutting through them.
Here are all my grape tomatoes halved. Pretty as a picture!
Step 3: Place your halved tomatoes and clean thyme sprigs in a bowl. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil (1/8th cup or so) and toss to coat. I just use my hands for this.
Step 4: Line a small baking sheet with foil and spray generously with non-stick spray (or, if you don't have it, just drizzle more olive oil on the baking sheet and rub it around with your hands or a paper towel).
Arrange the tomatoes on the baking sheet, cut side up. Drape the thyme sprigs over top. Sprinkle generously with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Your oven should be preheated by this point, so pop 'em in! These will need to stay in the oven for around 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them.
Step 5: Your water should also be boiling at this point. Dump your half pound of pasta (I used penne) into the boiling water and cook according to package directions. My package directed me to cook it for 11 minutes.
Step 6: While your tomatoes are roasting, scrub your lemons under running water using a rough sponge to get all the grit off. Zest your lemons into a small bowl - zesting is essentially scraping off the bright yellow rind (I use a fine hand held cheese grater to do this; you could also use the fine side on a box grater or a microplane if you have one).
The zest (or rind) of citrus fruit house essential oils, which add incredible flavor and depth to food. However, right underneath the bright rind of the fruit is the white, bitter pith. See the spot near the right of the lemon below that is white?
That white spot near the right of the lemon is the pith starting to show through. You don't want that part. Just grate off the very outside of the rind all over the whole lemon - if you keep grating too deep in any one spot, you will start seeing the white bits, which taste very bitter and unpleasant.
Here is the zest from my two lemons. It probably came out to around 2-3 tablespoons, if you want to get technical.
Step 7: Once your pasta is finished cooking, drain it in a colander and rinse it thoroughly with cold water. You want it to be cool to the touch.
Step 8: Remove your tomatoes from the oven when they have finished roasting (10-15 minutes). They should look like the picture below - slightly wilted and a little brown on top.
As you can see, the natural sugars in the tomatoes caramelize during the roasting process, which makes a huge mess when they explode on the surface of the pan (see all the burnt tomato juice on the left side?) . Using foil makes clean-up a lot easier and eliminates the need to scrub a pan covered in burnt food.
Scoop your desired amount of pasta into a bowl.
Spoon on a few large dollops of ricotta cheese.
Sprinkle on a teaspoon or so of the lemon zest.
Drizzle some more olive oil over it. Add your roasted tomatoes on top and a couple sprigs of the roasted thyme (I also added some dried thyme to intensify the flavor, this is completely optional).
Add a pinch of salt and more fresh cracked black pepper and you're good to go!
Look how gorgeous this dish is. If you are trying to eat more meatless dishes, this pasta salad could be a great way to incorporate a vegetarian meal into your diet. Also, I used the Barilla Plus Penne (which has added fiber, whole grains, and omega-3's) and part-skim ricotta, making this dish extremely low in saturated fat, and high in fiber and nutrients.
Not to mention the flavor...roasting the tomatoes makes them incredibly sweet and intense when they burst in your mouth. Try this soon. You won't regret it!
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
JEN
