Here’s a new favourite summertime supper recipe — perfect for when those patio tomato plants are being just a bit too generous with their fruitful bounty.
Tiny tomatoes are apparently custom-made to be roasted with garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then tossed with lovely greens: the late-season regrowth of baby spinach and herbs fresh from the garden — and luscious Asiago cheese!
Vegetable – Asiago Pasta
3 cups cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag (about 4 cups) baby spinach leaves
1 pkg 450g spaghettini (whole wheat)
1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil or parsley (we prefer basil)
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Toss the tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Spread them on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast 20 to 30 minutes or until the tomatoes are shrivelled up and lightly browned.
Scrape tomatoes and juices into large bowl, and toss in the baby spinach.
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, or to your own taste.
Toss the cooked pasta with the roasted tomatoes and spinach mixture, Asiago, and basil or parsley.
Serve warm, with extra cheese.
This recipe serves 4-6, unless you’re very hungry or (like me) very very keen on Asiago-flavoured healthy pasta dishes!
Notes:
Asiago cheese is the perfect taste complement for the other flavours, by the way, so don’t even think about cheaping out and trying to substitute another type of cheese! Yes, I know Asiago is a bit more pricey than some cheeses, but really… sometimes you’ve just got to go for the real thing.
I’ve also faked this recipe fairly successfully with dried basil but it’s just not quite the same — so, please, do spring for the fresh green bunches at the grocery store, if you don’t happen to grow your own basil. Parsley is also acceptable, but really it’s second-best.
You know I’m usually all in favour of clever substitutions in the kitchen, but for this recipe — go with the real ingredients, that’s my advice!
sounds delicious!!
p.s. No patio tomatoes?
This dish looks great with the tiny cherry tomatoes or the absolutely teensy grape tomatoes, but if the ordinary big ones are all you have — just cut them up in wedges like you would to serve fresh with a salad, then cut the wedges in half. That makes a good size, but no need to fuss — just carry on with roasting the tomato chunks as if they were cherry tomatoes.
Anne, Asiago is the most gorgeous Italian cheese – both sharp and creamy-rich in flavour, absolutely divine!
It comes as a fresh (soft) cheese, or else aged (harder) for fine-grating and sprinkling like Parmesan. In our grocery store deli section, they tend to display it near the Parmesan and Romano (“pasta cheeses” we call them) but believe me, the different kinds are not interchangeable at all to the true cheese fanatic.
For this recipe, I’d recommend fresh Asiago, coarsely grated at home with a cheese grater, for best flavour.
This sounds delicious. I will have to find out what Asagio cheese is.