Baked Tomato Pasta

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pour half of the olive oil into a 13″x9″ baking dish and spread evenly along the bottom and sides with your fingers or a pastry brush. Wash cherry tomatoes and pat dry. Slice each tomato in half and place them in the baking dish, skin-side down, to form a single layer in the baking dish. Fit in as many tomatoes as you can.

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheeses, and garlic and mix with a fork. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the tomatoes. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the tomatoes and bread crumb mixture, and finally, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top begins to brown.

Once the baking dish is in the oven, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook it according to package instructions for al denté. Ideally, the pasta should be drained immediately before or after the baking dish is removed from the oven.

When it’s time to pull the tomatoes out of the oven, once you remove the dish, use the back of a large spoon to stir the tomatoes, squishing them to release their juices. Pour the drained pasta into the baking dish and stir well.

To slice the basil, stack the leaves together and roll them up lengthwise. Then, chop the roll in pieces about 1/8″ wide. Fluff the basil gently with your fingertips and sprinkle over the pasta and tomatoes.

Serve with additional Parmesan cheese as a garnish. This dish also makes fantastic leftovers!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen