If summer isn’t reason enough to celebrate the taste of tomatoes, this recipe is.  I’ve always liked tomatoes – served raw in salads, cooked up in sauces, even tomato ketchup! If it’s made from a tomato, I like it. But rarely do I eat a dish that focuses on the tomato. That’s why when I saw this post on Serious Eat, I knew this slow roasted tomato spaghetti recipe was for me.

These tomatoes are baked in olive oil for almost 3 hours, highlighting their natural flavors and creating a gem of a pasta dish. The sauce is essentially olive oil enhanced with liquid from the tomatoes. I usually need more sauce than simply an oil but when these tomatoes are around, there really is no need.

Instead of grilled squash like the original recipe suggests, I  chose  to serve my slow roasted tomatoes and spaghetti with sauteed mushrooms. I made this recipe with a good quality olive oil from Italy which I think helped contribute to the great flavor. The tomatoes were simply from my local grocery store but you might get best results with locally grown tomatoes.

Here is the step by step:

First, you fill a pan with 1/4 C. olive oil and chopped plum tomatoes. Make sure to use a quality olive oil as this will make or break your dish!

Add 1/4 C. more olive oil over the top of your tomatoes, along with salt and pepper. Now, bake your tomatoes for 1 hour at 250 degrees.

Take them out and flip them over so they are cut side down and bake for 1 more hour. Take them out again and flip them back over and bake for another 30-35 minutes.

Transfer your slow roasted tomatoes to a bowl.

Pour the oil from the pan back over the tomatoes.

Sprinkle your tomatoes with minced garlic and minced parsley.

Sautee some mushrooms, cook up some spaghetti and combine with your slow roasted tomatoes!

Of course, the tomatoes become the highlight of this dish. They’re so rich in deep tomato and olive oil flavor. Chop them up so you have bits of flavor throughout the dish or savor each tomato piece whole. There’s nothing like roasting tomatoes to enhance the flavor of tomatoes to their fullest capacity. And that’s just what this dish does.

Sure, 3 hours might be a lot of time to dedicate to a dish but you can split up the work. Roast your tomatoes the night before, set them in the refrigerator and then heat them up on the stovetop the next day. (That’s what I did when it was 7:00 at night and I noticed this recipe took 3 hours…)

Spaghetti with Olive Oil, Mushrooms and Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil, divided
6 plum tomatoes, ends removed, halved lengthwise
salt and pepper
2 Tbs. minced parsley
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
oil for sauteeing mushrooms
1/2 lb. dry spaghetti, cooked

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Pour 1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil into glass baking dish.

Wash tomatoes. Remove the ends and slice in half lenghtwise. Add tomatoes, cut side up, and pour the remaining 1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil over the top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake tomatoes for 1 hour at 250 degrees. Remove from oven and flip each tomato over with a fork or tongs. Bake for 1 more hour. Remove and flip tomatoes back to cut side up. Bake for 30-35 more minutes, or until tender and deep red.

Top tomatoes with minced parsley and minced garlic and transfer to bowl. Pour oil from pan back over tomatoes.

Saute mushrooms in canola or olive oil until brown and cooked. Cook spaghetti noodles until al dente. Combine mushrooms, spaghetti and tomato mixture and serve hot or at room temperature.

More Tomato Recipes:
Tomato Potluck Party Recipes
Garlic Roasted Tomatoes
Roasted Tomato Salad
More Spaghetti Recipes:
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spaghetti with Clam Sauce
Spaghetti in Meat Sauce
Spaghetti Roma
Spaghetti Ala Puttanesca

I’d like to submit this entry to Presto Pasta Nights founded by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast and hosted this week by Amy of Very Culinary. I can’t wait for the roundup!

Tags: pasta recipes, slow roasted tomatoes, spaghetti, spaghetti recipes

Posted by Hillary, 5:44 PM

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 5:44 pm and is filed under pasta. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.