Roasted Heirloom Tomato and Garlic Marinara
I found gorgeous baby heirloom cherry tomatoes at my local Costco last week and just had to snag them. I have to say I am not a tomato lover…I seriously desire to like raw tomatoes, I will eat them on a salad, but overall I avoid them like the plague. I think my dislike stems from when my parents would stew and can tomatoes almost every year as I was growing up and that smell…that smell rivals baby poo. It…well it scarred me for life. BUT I love to figure out how to add them to recipes and spice them up so they don’t dredge up memories that I probably need to go to therapy for. OK, that is dramatic…
Anyway, I brought the baby heirloom cherry tomatoes home and decided I’d roast them with garlic in the oven and then puree into a marinara. Best decision I’ve made this week…with food anyway. When you roast garlic in the oven, the cloves become toasted and take on a sweet taste. Not sweet like candy, but sweet like bell peppers or carrots. The intensity of the garlic also dims quite a bit when it is roasted. Thus the reason why I used 3 large heads of garlic. This marinara is also heart healthy, keto, Whole 30, paleo, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Keep scrolling for the recipe and the nutritional facts.
Roasted Heirloom Tomato and Garlic Marinara
ingredients:
2lb heirloom cherry tomatoes (regular cherry tomatoes work just as well, or regular heirloom tomatoes diced)
3 large heads of garlic
1lb whole wheat pasta
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Optional: shredded parmesan cheese
directions:
Preheat oven to 350, while heating up cover baking sheet with foil. Cut the top 1/4 of each head of garlic off so the cloves are exposed. Place the tomatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle Italian seasoning over that. Shuffle the tomatoes around so they are evenly coated with the olive oil and Italian seasoning. Place the heads of garlic cut side down on the baking sheet and then place into preheated oven. Cook until the tomatoes begin to burst, approximately 25 minutes. While the tomatoes and garlic roast, prepare the whole wheat pasta according to the box’s instructions. Once the tomatoes and garlic are done roasting, take out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Then blend in a food processor or blender. Salt and pepper to taste, then top the cooked whole wheat pasta with the pureed marinara. I added in shredded parmesan cheese at the end. Cheese always helps entice kiddos to try new things.
The nutrition facts do not include the cheese. If you recreate this recipe, let me know how you ended up liking it. Do you have a similar recipe that you love? Hope y’all are having an amazing week.
