Love and Olive Oil

Roasted Tomato Penne with Goat Cheese

Roasted Tomato Penne with Goat Cheese

End of season tomatoes seem to get smaller and smaller. The big, juicy pineapples and Cherokee purples from June and July have disappeared, making way for dozens of petite salad tomatoes. These tomatoes, also known as Romas, are fleshier than beefsteak tomatoes which makes them ideal for homemade tomato sauce (more flesh and less juice make for higher yields and thicker sauce). But that takes time. And when you’ve got an overflowing bowl of over-ripe tomatoes sitting on the hutch and three hungry cats yelling at you and a pile of laundry and a full email box and final edits due on your book the next day and a mess of a living room and dust and cat hair covering every surface, time is the only thing you don’t have. Surely not enough time to make a big batch of homemade tomato sauce.

Roasted Roma Tomatoes

Time for plan B.

Roasting brings out the best in these little gems. They shrivel and bubble and sizzle and shrink, the heat only intensifying the flavors. I threw in some sprigs of fresh thyme, but any herb would do; you could also roast them with whole cloves of garlic or slices of onion or shallot too. Put them on top of some pasta and you have yourself a dinner in no time.

Because, really, who needs tomato sauce anyway?

Roasted Tomato Penne with Goat Cheese

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Ingredients:

12 ounces roma tomatoes, trimmed and halved (quartered if large)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/3 cup goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Toss halved tomatoes with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Arrange on prepared baking sheet in a single layer, cut side facing up. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes or until tomatoes are shriveled and juicy.

Divide pasta among serving bowls. Top with tomatoes and crumbled goat cheese and serve.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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19 Comments

  1. It’s the goat cheese that got me. I loooove goat cheese.

  2. I love roasted tomatoes — actually, I love anything roasted. It’s just the best way to approach practically every vegetable (or fruit in this case).

  3. What a great and simple idea. I’ll definitely be trying this soon maybe with some fresh basil to finish, I love those tomatoes!

  4. As always, so lovely! Goat cheese and roasted tomatoes–my kinda dish.

  5. A great, end of the summer dish! Love it!

  6. Beautiful! I love simple pastas like this–and the roasted tomatoes are definitely perfect for the rapidly approaching end of the season. :)

  7. OH MY GOODNESS…really! These tomatoes look divine! What a yummy recipe and your images are so beautiful I can almost taste those tomatoes!
    I am so happy to find you!

  8. This is so simple and so delicious! Great combination!

  9. tHANKS FOR REMINDING ME TO roast THE TOMATOES!! RED AND GREEN PEPPERS TOO AND GARLIC AND ONION! on my to do list today !

  10. love this! Just tweeted and pinned it

  11. I could eat this every night for dinner! So lovely! And the photos take my breath away!

  12. oh man. this looks so great for a night that my boyfriend is out.

  13. I just fell to the floor.

  14. Mmmm…two of my favorite ingredients! Looks like a wonderful, comforting pasta. :)

  15. I love roasted tomatoes, they’re one of the best things in the world!

  16. This is one of my absolute favourite pasta dishes with whatever cheese I happen to have on hand. Delicious and your photos are, as ever, so beautiful.

  17. I love tomatoes, in any form! And your little sliced tomatoes look so good – and the goat cheese, too!

  18. Looks so fresh and delicious!

  19. Yum! What a great way to utilize late summer tomatoes! Roasted tomatoes are the best. Thanks for the recipe!

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