What We Ate Wednesday--Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Hello lovelies! It's been several weeks since I posted a What We Ate Wednesday. A lot of things have happened in my life. I had the privilege of spending 4 nights in hospital with a terminally ill friend and then spent several weeks after supporting her husband and planning her funeral. During this time I started a new job. It has been busy and so have relied on tried and true favourite, easy meals instead of trying new recipes.

This was right at the end of things where I  needed something quick and remembered I had some of that WILD GARLIC AND WALNUT PESTO in my freezer. This came together in a snap and was absolutely gorgeous. We will definitely have this again. And again. And again. If I wasn't already married, I would marry pesto (although I am carrying on a torrid love affair with it.)

I plan to fill my freezer full of jars of spinach and walnut pesto (heavy on the garlic) in the near future so I can always have this meal to hand. Just remember if you freeze it, you need to take it out of the freezer and pop it in the fridge overnight or a few hours on the counter should defrost it.

A note about tomatoes: when I plan to eat them raw, I splurge on the really nice sweeter kind, but if I roast them then I buy the cheap and cheerful sort that costs 54p.

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Move your oven rack to the highest place and turn on your grill or broiler. I set my temperature at 220 degrees C/425F.

1. Make your pesto. Or be like me and have some already made that you defrosted. (see recipe link above)

2. Boil your (GF) pasta. I used 2 cups of dry pasta for 2 people. 

Meanwhile roast your tomatoes:

Punnet cherry tomatoes (250g)
Slice in halves or quarters and drizzle with
1 TB olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
generous salt and pepper

Arrange cut side up in a roasting pan. 
Roast 15 minutes under the grill until collapsed

3. When your pasta is boiled, drain it in a colander, but save about a half cup of the pasta water. Add your pasta and pesto back in the hot pan and heat on low heat to soften the pesto and warm it up. Add a splash or two of pasta water to thin the pesto and make it cover the pasta. Add a tin of white beans (like haricot beans) (optional, but makes it more filling) and top with roasted tomatoes. 

That is it. It's not even really a recipe. It's just the best thing you have ever tasted.

I cannot believe I never knew how gorgeous pesto was before this. I make mine with less oil than many recipes, but it still tasted fantastic. Next week I will show you a few more pesto recipes because literally it is the only meal I want to eat these days.