Notes
- Serves four (but easily halved for two).
- Takes 35–40 minutes.
- If you have any leftovers, you can eat them cold as pasta salad. Just moisten with extra olive oil if needed.
- Warning: If you neglect to include the Parmesan cheese, this recipe becomes v✽getarian.
Ingredients
- 2 red peppers, seeded and cut into chunks
- 2–3 red onions, cut into wedges
- 2 mild red chillies, seeded and diced
- 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 1 tsp golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1kg/2lb 4oz small ripe tomatoes, quartered (or halved, if very small)
- 350g/12oz dried pasta
- a handful of fresh basil leaves (a very important ingredient: don't be tempted to skip it)
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6/fan 180°C (or buy an Aga and use the bottom roasting shelf).
- Scatter the peppers, red onions, chillies and garlic in a large roasting tin (it does need to be a large tin, even though it might not look it to start with).
- Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle over the oil, and season well with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 15 minutes, then…
- Put the pasta on to boil, and…
- Toss the tomatoes in with the roasting vegetables and roast for another 15 minutes until everything is starting to soften and look golden.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain well.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven, tip in the pasta, and toss lightly together.
- Tear the basil leaves and sprinkle on top.
- Sprinkle with parmesan and serve.
One of my current favourites is slow-roast shoulder of lamb. The only down-side to this dish is that it inevitably serves a small coach-party.
I can't help thinking that the remnants of the previous day's slow-roast shoulder added with the tomatoes would make a rather magnificent addition to your recipe here.
I'll try it as soon as "Mediterraneans" are back in stock at Tesco.