Roast tomato & ricotta tagliatelle
A creamy, easy high protein pasta dish with basil and toasted pine nuts
This is the third recipe from my 20 meals in 20 minutes series. Pasta is the hero of quick, comforting dinners so it was only a matter of time until I featured one.
This one starts by air frying/roasting tomatoes and garlic then blitzing them with ricotta cheese. I think ricotta is underrated! People love cottage cheese for its high protein content, but ricotta has a very similar amount (and similar calories) and is creamier and smoother in sauces like this.
Toasted pine nuts add a nice nutty flavour and tasty crunch.
You might assume that any recipe that requires roasting takes a while, but cherry tomatoes don’t take long at all due to their size.
Hope you enjoy it!
You’ll need (serves 2):
400g cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
Extra virgin olive oil, or cold-pressed rapeseed oil
200g pasta of choice, I used tagliatelle
30g pine nuts
250g ricotta cheese
2 handfuls fresh basil leaves, finely sliced
Preheat your oven to its highest setting, or if you have an air fryer use that (no need to preheat). Add the cherry tomatoes to a roasting tin or the air fryer basket along with the garlic cloves (whole and in their skin). Drizzle in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 12 minutes. If using an air fryer, cook at 220C.
Cook your pasta according to packet instructions.
Heat a frying pan (don’t add oil) and toast the pine nuts until they start to change colour and smell fragrant.
When the tomatoes have been in for about 12 minutes, remove them and add to a food processor. Pick out the garlic cloves, peel away and discard the skins and add the garlic back in. Add the ricotta, season well with salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
Drain the pasta, keeping a little of the pasta water, and return to the pan on the hob. Add the tomato and ricotta sauce along with the basil and mix well. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta water too. Heat through for a couple of minutes.
Divide between two bowls and top with the pine nuts and finish with a little more pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (chilli oil would be nice too). Dig in.