Sweet, soft and delicious roasted tomatoes with herbs and olive oil are a perfect complement to this nutrient packed kale pesto pasta. A wonderful vegetarian meal.
My daughter Kipper is not generally a picky eater, but one thing she’s never liked is tomatoes. Well, identifiable tomatoes anyway. She’ll eat ketchup by the spoonful, and will tolerate a tomato-based pasta sauce, or a thin layer under the cheese on a pizza. But a slice of tomato? Raw or cooked, there’s just no way she would eat it.
Just make them more delicious!
Given her dislike of the red fruit, it’s a testament to how delicious these roasted tomatoes smelled while cooking that she was persuaded to try one of them. And not only did she eat it, she pronounced it, “delicious!” and had several more. Finally, she went on to demand that I make more of these roasted tomatoes at the earliest opportunity.
“Make a BIG tray next time Mummy!“
My goodness. What a turnaround!
Home grown harvest – roasted tomatoes
I’d made this dish as a simple and tasty way to use some of our late summer/early-autumn tomatoes – the plants seem to be ripening about 500g tomatoes every 2-3 days at the moment, and there’s only so much salad a person can eat. I think the thing that really made this batch of roasted tomatoes super-delicious was the addition of fennel seeds. The slightly sweet aniseed flavour goes beautifully with the tomatoes.
Easy Kale Pesto
I also made a kale, pecan and goat’s cheese pesto, that was supposed to be the star of this meal, and while it is delicious, it did end up playing second fiddle to the roasted tomatoes rather. Sorry, kale pesto. Still, if you’re looking to do something tasty with a bag of kale you could do a lot worse than make this pesto. It’s pretty good on its own (with pasta) but really great with the addition of roasted tomatoes!
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📖 Recipe
Roasted tomatoes & kale, pecan and goats cheese pesto pasta
Ingredients
For the roast tomatoes
- 400 g mixed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon herbs-de-provence or other mixed herbs
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- Pinch crushed chilli/chilli flakes
- Pinch salt
- 3-4 tablespoon olive oil
For the kale pesto pasta
- 200-250 g kale
- 3 cloves garlic
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 55 g hard goats cheese, grated
- 25 g pecan nuts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 150-200 g pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- 400 g (14 oz) mixed tomatoesCut the tomatoes into halves, quarters or chunks, depending on their size – each piece should be about the size of half a cherry tomato – and place in a baking dish.
- 1 tsp herbs-de-provence or other mixed herbs, 1 tsp fennel seeds, Pinch crushed chilli/chilli flakes, Pinch salt, 3-4 tbsp olive oilSprinkle over the herbs de provence, fennel seeds, chilli flakes and salt, then drizzle over the oil and gently mix everything together to coat. Spread the tomatoes out into an even layer.
- Roast at 180°C (350°F) for 45 minutes until soft, fragrant and delicious!
- 200-250 g (7-9 oz) kale, 3 cloves garlicMeanwhile, remove and discard the 'ribs' from the kale, and wash the leaves thoroughly. Peel the garlic cloves. Cook the kale and garlic in a large pan of boiling water for 4-5 minutes, then drain well and allow to cool slightly.
- 50 ml (3 ⅜ tablespoon) extra virgin olive oil, 55 g (2 oz) hard goats cheese, grated, 25 g (¼ cups) pecan nutsPut the cooked kale and garlic, oil, cheese and pecans into the bowl of a food processor and pulse repeatedly until a thick, slightly chunky consistency is reached. (You can process until smooth if you prefer, obviously.)
- salt and pepper to tasteTaste and season with salt and pepper if desired.
- 150-200 g (5½-7 oz) pastaAbout 10-15 minutes before the tomatoes are roasted, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain well, reserving a little of the cooking water.
- Thin the pesto with a little of the pasta water if necessary, then toss with the drained pasta. Serve topped with the roasted tomatoes.
Nutrition
More delicious pasta recipes
If you love a dish of comforting and delicious pasta, how about:
- Pasta alla Norma – with rich tomato sauce and roasted aubergines (eggplant)
- Quick courgette & cherry tomato pasta with feta – a speedy weeknight dinner
- Roasted red pepper spaghetti – easy and delicious, packed with flavour
- Zesty tuna pasta – great hot or cold, perfect for a quick dinner or in a lunchbox
I’m adding this gorgeous autumnal recipe to the following foodie challenges:
Pasta Please, which is hosted by Supper in the Suburbs and organised by Tinned Tomatoes. They’re after recipes using seasonal veggies like tomatoes and kale – perfect!
Extra Veg, hosted this month by Kate at Veggie Desserts, and organised by Michelle Utterly Scrummy and Fuss Free Helen. All that kale ‘hidden’ in the pesto has to count for something, right?
Recipe of the Week, hosted by A Mummy Too.
kateveggiedesserts
What a great entry for #ExtraVeg! You’re so lucky to get so many tomatoes – I didn’t have many at all this year. And I love that you’ve added fennel seeds – sounds lovely.
Helen
Thanks Kate. I seem to be having a bit of a ‘thing’ for fennel seeds at the moment. I’ve been throwing them into everything! They do go really well with tomatoes though.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
That sounds delicious! I love a homemade pesto with a healthy helping of veggies! Thanks for sharing with #ExtraVeg
Helen
Thanks Helen. I don’t make homemade pesto nearly often enough! Thanks for organising #ExtraVeg – lots of great inspiration 🙂
HedgeComber
Hehe, I have two gigantic trays of homegrown tommies in the oven as we speak! Mine only have salt, oregano and balsamic on but they are smelling deelish 🙂
Janie x
PS you must want to do a giant air punch when littlies decide they like new and healthy foods 😀
Helen
Yum yum yum ?
Dead right about the air punch, although she has a demoralisingly short memory when it comes to remembering which foods she’s previously approved.
susjdavy
My boyfriend is the same with tomatoes! He can’t stand raw ones, but loves any other kind of tomato as long as it’s cooked.
This looks like a yummy meal, I love a good kale pesto!
Helen
Oh no – I was waiting for Kipper to grow out of it! Still, at least she’ll eat cooked tomatoes now…
Heidi Roberts
I don’t eat goats cheese but the rest of the recipe looks really tasty!
Helen
Thanks Heidi. You can substitute Parmesan or any hard cheese, and it should be just as yummy!
Emma @ Supper in th Suburbs
What a fantastic recipe! It must be good if kipper liked it 😉 tomatoes roasted at home are definitely better than those that come in jars. I also love the sound of this pesto. I’ve never tried making pesto with pecans so will have to give that a try! Thanks for including in this month’s #pastaplease