Who says you can’t indulge and eat healthy at the same time? Treat your family and friends to this fresh and tasty pasta dish. It’s super easy to put together and every mouthful is an adventure of flavours that complement each other beautifully.
Serves 4
You’ll need
Tomato paste
200g vine cherry tomatoes5 sprigs of thyme3 bay leaves3 garlic cloves, unpeeled1 tbsp. White wine vinegar6 calamata olives, finely sliced2 fresh basil leavesSalt & pepper
Pasta
250g Tagliatelle4 heaped tablespoons plain cream cheese25g raw pine nuts (optional), alternatively, 25g roasted almonds – chopped40g Pomegranate rubies4 fresh basil leavesSalt & pepper
Get started
Preheat the oven to 200°CLine a baking tray with wax paper or foilClosely pack the vine tomatoes on the tray and scatter with thyme sprigs, bay leaves and garlic cloves and season with a good grind of salt and pepper.Place in the oven oven for 20 minutes or until tomato skins have started to split and set aside to cool.Heat the white wine vinegar in a frying pan on medium heat.Remove the tomatoes from the vines and add to the heated pan, along with the thyme leaves (stripped from the stem).Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the pan.Discard the garlic skins and bay leaves.Add 2 chopped basil leaves to the pan and season with salt and pepper.Using the back of a wooden spoon, squash the mixture and stir to combine. Stir occasionally until you have a thick, rich paste.While the paste simmers, boil your pasta until al dente. Once drained, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.Toast pine nuts or almonds in a hot saucepan until they begin to brown. Remove from heat
To serve
Loosely toss the pasta in the paste and place into a large serving bowl.Using a tablespoon, scoop the remaining paste up and dollop around the dish.Using a separate spoon, add scoops of the cream cheese on top of the pasta.Scatter a few of the remaining roasted tomatoes around the dish.Season with a few grinds of pepper and add basil leaves.Scatter with toasted pine nuts and pomegranate seeds.
Dig in!
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