:: Mushy Roast Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta

I finally sent off the manuscript of text for the book to Mercier press last week, so things have finally calmed down a little here in the Good Mood Kitchen! I have to say the whole process has been a major learning process and has been totally enjoyable. The most exciting part of the entire project had to be spending the two days working hell for leather in September with Jocasta the lovely food photographer and Erica my lovely food stylist/sous chef/psychiatrist/ and Auntie!! I picked up so many great little tips, so I'll have to do an extra special post detailing them all. For now here's a great quick dinner, which I made the other night, it's super tasty and so easy to make.

Mushy Roast Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta

This is an absolutely delicious dish which is so easy to prepare and is perfect for entertaining. I roast all the ingredients in a large roasting tray and when they are cooked using a fork mash them altogether to create a super tasty thick tomato sauce. Don’t be put off my roasting the whole garlic bulb, it produces a really rich, deep and faintly sweet flavour and makes it a lot more palatable than in its raw state.

250g of Wholewheat Penne Pasta.
1 large bulb of garlic.
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes.
1 large red onion.
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
3 tablespoons of olive oil.
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.
An extra glug of olive oil.
A large handful of grated parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 4.
Slice the top off the bulb of garlic so that almost all the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic in a large roasting tray. Prepare the cherry tomatoes by slicing them in half. A quick tip I picked up recently is that in order to always get an open faced halved tomato, look for the small dimple at the top of the tomato. Always slice across this bump and you will end up with perfectly sliced tomato faces!
Place the tomatoes in the roasting tray. Prepare the red onion by peeling and slicing into rough quarters, place alongside the tomatoes and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and using a pastry brush, brush the mix over the tomatoes, the red onion, and the garlic bulb. Sprinkle the tomatoes, garlic, and onion with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
Roast the tray in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced to half their size.
While the garlic, tomatoes, and onion are roasting, bring a medium sized pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.

When the tomatoes, garlic and onion are cooked remove from the oven and using a fork, mash all the ingredients together until you have a thick mushy sauce. Tumble the cooked pasta into the roasting tray and add the Parmesan cheese and an extra glug of olive oil. Toss everything together until the pasta is evenly coated. Serve in a large bowl and enjoy!