How to Cook Grape Tomatoes for Pasta

Pasta with tomatoes, ricotta, and pesto.

5 from 49 votes

Once you learn how to make grape tomatoes for pasta, you may never buy sauce again. This is super easy and so fresh and delicious!

Prep Time20

Cook Time55

Total Time1 15

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 823kcal

Author: Kelly Stilwell

Ingredients

2 bulbs garlic or pre-roasted garlic
5 tbsp olive oil
2 pints grape tomatoes stems removed
1 tsp kosher salt plus more for pasta
1 tbsp herbs de Provence
⅓ cup fresh basil
½ pound pasta long noodle like linguine, fettuccine, etc.
black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 375º.
Add grape tomatoes and garlic heads to the baking sheet along with oil, salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence.
Toss until tomatoes and garlic are coated. It's okay if some are broken apart. You will take them out of the skins later. Spread tomatoes and garlic out so nothing is touching. See notes.
Bake for 45 minutes, until garlic is soft and tomatoes pop. Take out of oven and let it cool.
Add half of the basil and three-quarters of the grape tomatoes to a food processor along with 3 tablespoons olive oil.
Set aside the rest of the tomatoes. Drain juices from baking sheet into food processor.
Slip the garlic out of the skins with your fingers being careful not to leave any papery skins behind. Add to food processor.
Blend tomatoes and garlic until creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Boil water for pasta in a large pot. Add about a tablespoon of salt.
Cook pasta until it's al dente, 10-12 minutes. Taste test to be sure it is slightly chewy but not soft. Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the water from the pasta before draining.
Add grape tomato garlic sauce to the same pot you used for cooking pasta and turn the heat to low. No need to rinse it. Stir gently to combine. This is where you will use the pasta water you saved to make the sauce the right consistency for your taste. I usually use between a quarter and half cup.
Return the pasta back to the pot with the sauce. Stir gently until pasta is coated with sauce. You can add more of that reserved water at this point if needed.
Cut the remaining grape tomatoes in half. Roll the basil and thinly slice using the chiffonade method.
Add the tomatoes and basil to the pot and gently stir to combine.
Divide pasta into two bowls. You can serve this as is, or top each with desired amount of ricotta and prepared pesto as we did. It's delicious!

Notes

We like to serve this with a dollop each of fresh ricotta and pesto.

Note: It's easier if you separate the tomatoes and garlic on the baking sheet instead of mixing them all together. It makes it easier to pick off the skins of the garlic before tossing everything into the food processor.

You can also roast garlic ahead of time for delicious roasted garlic flavor. See how to roast garlic cloves.

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