Savory roasted cherry tomatoes with plenty of garlic and basil are the perfect pasta topper. Make it a meal with spinach and white beans, no extra pans needed.
Servings 4
Author Becky Striepe
Ingredients
For the roasted cherry tomatoes
2pintscherry tomatoes
½cupfresh basilminced
4clovesgarlicminced
¼cupolive oil
1tablespoonbalsamic vinegarsee note
For the pasta
8ouncespastaAny kind you like will work!
115 ouncecan of Great Northern Beansdrained and rinsed - see note
8cupsbaby spinachor chopped spinach
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Roast the tomatoes.
Toss all of your ingredients together in a 9x12" baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your tomatoes. Smaller tomatoes will need less time to cook. Your tomatoes are ready when most of them have split open.
Make the pasta, and put it all together.
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, but also throw the white beans into the pot when you add the pasta to the boiling water.
While the pasta and beans cook, empty the spinach into your colander. When the pasta is done, drain it right over the spinach. The hot cooking water and the hot pasta and beans will steam the spinach to perfection! Use a mixing spoon to stir the pasta, spinach, and beans together in the colander, so the spinach wilts evenly.
When the tomatoes are done, transfer the pasta mixture from the colander right to that 9x12" pan. Toss everything together, and serve.
Video
Notes
Can't find cherry tomatoes? Grape tomatoes will also work in this recipe. They'll take a bit less time to cook -- more like 20-30 minutes -- since they're smaller, but otherwise you don't need to make any changes.
Rice vinegar or fresh lemon juice will work well in the roasted tomatoes if you don't have balsamic vinegar.
You can use other white beans instead of Great Northern. You can also use chickpeas or kidney beans.