This summer pasta dish is loaded with rich garlic, tomatoes, pesto with flavourful herbs and olive oil. Once baked with the melted goat cheese makes a perfect pasta meal anyday of the week.
Let’s be honest, don’t you just want to dive into this delicious tomato, garlic and goat cheese pasta dish with rich pesto sauce! When I needed to use up my ripe heirloom cherry tomatoes and I knew I had goat cheese, olives and the right ingredients to make a pesto, this Mediterranean style dish came to mind. I have roasted, and pan-seared cherry tomatoes before but I haven’t baked them and I have to say, what a delicious dish!
WHAT MAKES THIS DISH SO DELICIOUS
Like most if not all recipes, it takes a combination of flavours and quality of ingredients. I want to make a point by saying you DO NOT need a lot of ingredients to create a delicious recipe or a meal. Sometimes, I get caught up in thinking that I need to add this and that in order for my recipe to be appealing and delicious. Then I constantly hear it from top chefs saying, simplicity is the key to an outstanding dish!
So with that said, this recipe has a few ingredients and I wanted my tomatoes to be the star ingredient and then from there adding what I thought would give it that WOW factor. These ingredients were garlic, olives, oregano, goat cheese and extra virgin olive oil. Many of the Mediterranean countries have the best olive oil in the world.
Pesto is one of those incredible sauce that adds so much depth and flavour into a recipe. For this pesto, I added spinach and parsley for that extra antioxidant, fresh flavours and deep rich colour! You can’t go wrong adding a pesto to your pasta dishes, crostini’s or dips.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS DELICIOUS RECIPE
Pasta: I would suggest a spaghetti noodle or fettuccini to lap up that delicious olive oil and pesto sauce
Tomatoes: the heirloom cherry tomatoes in opinion was a good choice because of flavour and the beautiful colour variation in the dish and red cherry tomatoes are good substitution
Garlic: I added 3 cloves to the tomato dish and 2 cloves into the pesto as well, which was plenty of rich garlic flavour
Olives: I added just few to give this dish that Mediterranean flair
Oregano: adds an abundant of floral flavour
Extra virgin olive oil: Mediterranean evoo is rich and flavourful of pure olives
Sea salt: Mediterranean sea salt offers such a sweeter taste and more flavourful then regular salt
Goat cheese: is what I like to use most often and this added the perfect creaminess
Pesto consisted of spinach, basil, parsley, lemon juice, sea salt blossom herbs, garlic and olive oil. These ingredients added the rich deep colour and basil flavour.
WHEN MAKING THIS DELICIOUS RECIPE
This recipe is quick and easy to put together. You can make the pesto ahead of time and set it in the refrigerator until your ready to add it to the casserole. I would recommend taking it out 15 minutes before adding it to the tomatoes.
in a medium casserole, add heirloom cherry tomatoes, garlic, olives, oregano and olive oil. Combine ingredients until well coated with the olive oil. Add dollops of goat cheese in amongst the cherry tomatoes. Place in oven to bake for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.
When making the pesto, add spinach, basil leaves, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and garlic to a food processor. Pulse until completely combined and drizzle olive oil while pulsing until texture is thick and creamy.
Remove casserole from the oven, and drizzle the pesto over the tomatoes. Toss with pasta, garnish with fresh basil and serve immediately. The recipe could also be used as a dip or spoon onto crostini’s.
SUMMER is the time of year we entertain, have family and friends over for barbecues and late night dinners. It is also a time year we want to experiment with all the wonderful fresh fruits, vegetables and any ingredients we want to take a dish to that next level. As well, using good quality extra virgin olive oil offers such depth of flavour in this dish, and honestly, the difference is obvious. They are so incredibly distinct in the pure flavours, so much so your taste buds will sing!
HEALTH BENEFITS
This dish is loaded with healthy and nutritional benefits including high in antioxidants, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin B’s which all help to:
- reduce inflammation in the body,
- improves energy,
- excellent for our skin and eyes,
- reduces major diseases such as cancer, heart disease,
- improves brain function,
- supports bone health and immune system
Pasta with Heirloom Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Pesto
Equipment
- 9 inch or 22.5 cm casserole
- food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta
- 10 oz Heirloom cherry tomatoes (approx. 2 1/2 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 5-6 olives
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 oz goat cheese
Pesto:
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt and pasta, then reduce heat to a slow boil. Follow instructions on package and cook until al denta. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a medium casserole, add heirloom cherry tomatoes, garlic, olives, oregano and olive oil. Combine ingredients until well coated with the olive oil. Add dollops of goat cheese in amongst the cherry tomatoes. Place in oven to bake for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.
- When making the pesto, add spinach, basil leaves, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and garlic to a food processor. Pulse until completely combined and drizzle olive oil while pulsing until texture is thick and creamy.
- Remove casserole from the oven, and drizzle the pesto over the baked tomatoes. Toss with pasta, garnish with basil and serve immediately. The recipe could also be used as a dip or spoon onto crostini's.
