Pasta Pomodori by Pastarella

Inspired by Patti’s Pasta Con Pomodori al Forno, I tried my hand at a fast and dirty, albeit stripped down version tonight after a long day at work. I had a half pint of cherry tomatoes I needed to use up tonight, along with some leftover pasta sauce and meatballs.

Don’t you just love kitchen sink dishes? Nothing makes me happier than utilising the food in my pantry and fridge instead of eating out or stopping by the store on the way home for a whole new set of ingredients just to make one dinner for two.

This was one of those dishes where I had everything I wanted to use pretty much ready to go. I prepped the tomatoes for roasting in some olive oil with seasonings and popped those in the oven while I got my pot of water heating to boil on the stove while setting out the leftover tomato sauce with meatballs to reheat on another burner.

Dinner couldn’t have been easy and fast enough to cook and assemble. While everything was cooking nicely, I broke up half a whole wheat English muffin and stuffed it in my Magic Bullet for lovely and moist breadcrumbs to toss with the pasta and sauce in a bowl right before plating and topping with the roasted cherry tomatoes, some fresh cracks of pepper and fresh Parmesan cheese.

Try my version for a quick meal during the week, and or try Patti’s version on the weekend when you have more time to find all of the ingredients she uses and make it at your own leisure. I’m sure you’ll find both to be equally flavourful and satisfying.

Dry spaghetti
Premade pasta sauce of choice (I use homemade Marcella Hazan’s butter based tomato sauce)
Meatballs of choice (I had some turkey version from the grocery store to use up)
1/2 – 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tbsp or more olive oil
S&P to taste
1/4 C breadcrumbs (unseasoned)

Cut all the tomatoes in half and dump into a bowl along with S&P and Italian seasoning. Toss to coat well. Drop on a sheet or in a pan to cook under the broiler for a few minutes, or on the middle rack at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Start boiling water for the pasta while heating up the pasta sauce with meatballs in the same pot till the sauce begins to slowly boil and the meatballs are heated all the way through. Set aside off the stove if it finishes before the pasta. Drain the pasta and dump it into a large pot with the sauce and meatballs. Toss the breadcrumbs on top and toss everything together well with a pair of thongs.

Plate the pasta and sauce and top with the roasted cherry tomatoes and a few meatballs on top of each bowlful. Serve with a few cracks of fresh pepper and some shavings of fresh Parmesan cheese if desired.

Mange!