Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Anchovy Pasta
Try out this recipe for Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Anchovy Pasta. Cherry tomatoes are slow roasted, bringing out the sweet juices. Then the tomatoes are tossed together with a homemade sauce made from sweet roasted red peppers, soft roasted garlic, Parmesan cheese and salty anchovies. These ingredients combined make the best ever tomato pasta sauce.
The Recipe
Tomato pasta is a go-to midweek meal but this version is anything but ordinary. This pasta recipe is rich, sweet and salty. Start the recipe by roasting halved cherry tomatoes with garlic for over an hour, until the tomatoes become jammy and concentrated. Next, stir the juicy tomatoes into a sauce made from roasted red peppers, anchovies, Parmesan and tomato puree. Cook pasta in salty boiling water and stir through the sauce. Finally, adding a little pasta water loosens the sauce for a silky consistency.
Ingredients
Anchovies are one of my favourite ingredients. They melt down in sauces, bringing a salty, umami flavour that cannot be compared. The rich, salty flavour of anchovies can take a bit of getting used to – so only use one if you are new to them – but when cooked they heighten the flavour of everything. This pasta dish is a richer tomato pasta sauce than others, but one that I am sure you will enjoy. As is always the case with pasta recipes, using the best ingredients yields the greatest results. High quality pasta allows sauces to stick better and has better flavour. Good quality anchovies are much tastier than the cheap tinned ones. Serve this pasta dish with freshly cooked garlic bread or a green salad.
More recipes to try
- Easy Truffle Alfredo Pasta.
- Garlic Prawn and Tomato Spaghetti.
- Spaghetti with Garlic, Anchovies and Oregano.
- Wild Garlic and Broccoli Pesto Pasta.
- Bucatini alla’Amatriciana Recipe.
- Creamy Pasta With Bacon and Courgettes.
- Nduja Chicken Parmo.
- Steak and Mushroom Stroganoff.
- Tomato and Garlic Seafood Pasta.
- Pesto Pasta with Slow Roasted Tomatoes.
Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Anchovy Pasta
Ingredients
- 20 Cherry tomatoes Halved
- 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil (or an oil spray works well)
- 5 Fat cloves garlic skins left on
- 5-6 Anchovies preserved in salt or oil
- 3 roasted red peppers from a jar roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 50 g Parmesan cheese
- 170 g Penne Pasta
- Salt and pepper
- Chilli oil optional
- Fresh basil to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 130C. Half all of the cherry tomatoes and place in a baking tray. Season with a little salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Dot around the unpeeled garlic cloves. Cook for around 1-1.5 hours.
- Remove the tomato and garlic tray from the oven after around 1-1.5 hours.
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions in a pan of boiling salted water.
- Drizzle 1 tbsp chilli oil (or the remaining tbsp of olive oil) into a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the roasted red peppers, anchovies and tomato purée. Stir until the anchovies have broken down and essentially disappeared, this will take around 5 minutes. Stir through the roasted cherry tomatoes, squeeze the garlic from the cloves into the pan and stir for around a minute just to combine.
- Drain the pasta, retaining some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the frying pan along with a half a ladle or so of the cooking water and the grated Parmesan. Toss for one minute more until it all comes together in a silky sauce. Season with black pepper (you shouldn't need salt as the parmesan and anchovies are both salty)
- Stir through some fresh basil and enjoy your Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper and Anchovy Pasta.
