Roasted garlic and tomato pasta with garlic panini (recipe)

Delicious. The leaves taste really sweet – JD, 5

I’m trying to get back into cooking creatively after spending a couple of weeks being too tired to do much other than opt for tried and tested favourites.

Yesterday, we put our thinking caps on and came up with this simple but delicious family dish – a pasta classic of sorts, but a first for us.

Here’s what to do to make our roasted garlic and tomato pasta with garlic panini- it feeds four.

Ingredients

For the pasta:

• 1kg vine ripened tomatoes
• 1/2 large bulb of garlic
• 4-5 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, as desired
• 500g fresh egg spaghetti
• a few fresh basil leaves

For the garlic panini:

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 panini

Instructions

1. Quarter the tomatoes
2. Bash the garlic cloves a little but leave the skins on
3. Put the garlic and tomatoes in a roasting tin and cover with the oil and seasoning
4. Bake at 200C (180C fan assisted) for 30 minutes
5. Remove from the oven and squeeze the garlic out of their skins, discarding any that look burned
6. Tip all the tomatoes and garlic into a pan and whiz with a stick blender
7. To make the garlic panini, crush the garlic and mix with the oil
8. Slice the panini open and spread with the mixture, then cook in the oven for a couple of minute until crisp
9. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired, then cut each piece diagonally to create four servings
10. Boil the fresh pasta in plenty of salted water for a few minutes, then drain and stir into the sauce
11. Serve twisted in the centre of each plate, with a couple of basil leaves on top, and the garlic panini to the side

Sprinkle with parmesan or add extra seasoning, if desired, but it’s yummy without. Easy peasy.