Roasted Garlic and Tomato Ricotta pasta is absolute heaven. Slow roasting garlic and cherry tomatoes is a real game changer. Mix that with some herb whipped ricotta and pasta, just wow. Whipped ricotta is my jam these days, I love it on toast, as a dip and mixing it into a sauce just takes it to the next level. Roasting the garlic and tomato really adds great depth to this sauce.
The way I prepare the garlic and tomato is almost a confit but with a little less oil. Olive oil is expensive and we can’t be wasting it around here. Don’t worry it still comes out delicious and perfect for this dish.
Not only will you love this Roasted Garlic and Tomato Ricotta Pasta but it will also make your house smell amazing. That’s a win win in my book.
Ingredients
- 1 Box of Spaghetti
- 15oz. Ricotta Cheese
- ½ cup roasted cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup roasted garlic cloves
- 2 handfuls of spinach
- 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp. fresh basil chopped
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice and some zest
- ½ cup grated Romano cheese
- ¼ cup pasta water
- ½ tsp. fresh cracked pepper
- 2 ½ tsp. sea salt (use a 1 tsp. in water for cooking pasta. The rest is for sauce).
- Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
I made the roasted cherry tomatoes and garlic earlier in the day. I preheat the oven at 350 degrees, shell the garlic (when I make large batches of this I buy the shelled garlic cloves in bulk to save myself time) and keep the tomatoes whole and toss them together in olive oil and salt. There should be enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Bake that for 30 minutes and remove tomatoes then add to a clean glass jar. Continue to cook garlic for another 25 minutes. Jar garlic with oil and add more oil if you need it. They should stay for two weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. There is enough here for the recipe and then some.
Directions
- Bring water to a boil and salt. Cook pasta till al dente. Save about a 1/2 cup of pasta water before you drain it.
- While that’s cooking, sauté spinach with some olive oil, basil and parsley just till soft and add to food processor.
- Take ricotta add it to food processor with everything but pasta water. Blend for 1-2 minutes until nice and creamy. Taste for seasoning. Feel free to add more salt, pepper, garlic or tomatoes. The tomatoes and garlic have some salt so if you are going to add more do that first before adding more salt. Taste again.
- Once pasta is ready, drain and add back to pan off the heat. Add about 2 cups of sauce and 1/2 the pasta water and mix. Let this sit for a minute to allow sauce to soak up. Add more water if you want to thin sauce.
- Sprinkle with some extra herbs and serve.