Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Penne with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes

So, I must confess – I set the oven on fire the other night (and I mean on fire). What an ordeal, am I really meant to be in the kitchen if I am such a hazard? Anyways, it was a complete fluke accident and I will spare the embarrassing details. Thank goodness for baking soda. It just made me realize how streamline and smooth the cooking shows on television are in comparison to my own kitchen. Ultimately, nothing was ruined and no one was hurt. It has now become a laughable situation. Did I mention I wasn’t perfect? I think so.

Other than that my August long weekend was pretty good. I caught up with a few old friends and also made my first 100 percent whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies out of Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours. They were excellent – a different earthy and nutty flavour paired with dark chocolate. You should give them a try if you are looking for a healthy twist on a traditional recipe.

For this next posting I thought you might like a main course. I decided to play off of Giada’s Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto recipe, but I wanted to lighten it by tossing in some sweet oven roasted tomatoes and fresh baby spinach.

Additionally, I added some kick to her pesto with a few red pepper flakes - I love the spice.

I felt that the sauce was fairly heavy with the strong taste of the sun-dried tomatoes that I did not need to add the parmesan - I just topped it with a few crumbles of goat cheese (a great pairing). It turned out wonderfully. So here is my version, and everything can be altered to your own tastes. If you are not a fan of sun-dried tomatoes, I am sure I have something up my sleeves for next time!

 Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Penne with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes:

 6 cups whole-wheat penne
 1 cup of reserved cooking water
 2 generous handfuls of sliced baby spinach
 a few crumbles of goat cheese

 Pesto:1 (270 mL) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
 2 cloves of garlic
 a few good pinches of red pepper flakes (to taste)
 1 cup of fresh basil

 Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes: *1 pint of small heirloom tomatoes
 2 T olive oil
 1 ½ T Balsamic vinegar
 Kosher salt

Heat your oven to 350F. Cut the tomatoes in half, and place them on a baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and turn them facing cut-side up. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of kosher salt. Roast them for approximately 45 minutes until they are tender, shrunken, and sweet.

* I would recommend doubling the ingredients for the roasted tomatoes if you are serving more people. We seemed to scoop these in our bowls faster than we anticipated.

 Meanwhile, make the pesto by pulsing together the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, pepper to taste and if you wish a sprinkle of kosher salt. Blend until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Make sure you reserve 1 cup of the cooking water before draining.

In a large bowl, add your pesto (you may not need to use it all, depending on how strong of a flavour you prefer). Add the hot pasta, and toss thoroughly to coat. Slowly add some reserved cooking water just to moisten and thin the pesto out – not too much, it should still have a bit of bite to it. It is really a matter of preference here, so you can add more pesto or seasoning if want.

Lastly, toss in your sliced spinach – it will shrink down quickly in the hot pasta mixture. Top with your balsamic oven roasted tomatoes and a few crumbles of goat cheese.