Tomato and Garlic Confit Pasta
Oct 05, 2023, Updated Mar 13, 2024
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If you’re looking for a simple yet luxurious pasta dish that captures the best of summer produce, this Tomato and Garlic Confit Pasta is it. Slow-roasted cherry tomatoes and garlic are blended into this rich, creamy sauce, which beautifully coats each piece of pasta and makes every bite burst with flavour. It’s an effortless recipe that feels elegant enough for entertaining, but easy enough to throw together on a weeknight!
Serve this with garlic butter mushrooms or these quick and easy garlicky green beans for a healthy and delicious meal.
If there’s one thing that will make it onto my table at least once a week, it’s a dish that has pasta and tomato. This particular recipe is a great, fairly hands-off dish. It relies on cooking down the tomato and garlic, and then whizzing it into a thick yet creamy sauce. It’s the perfect weeknight dinner!
Ingredients
Wondering what ingredients you need for this easy tomato and garlic confit pasta? Let me tell you about the most important ingredients to get you started…
- Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes and big, juicy heirlooms have an important place in my recipes, but this recipe works best with cherry tomatoes because they cook down really well and are easy to whizz up with a stick blender.
- Garlic: This is garlic confit pasta…so you’ll need two bulbs of garlic! Garlic and pasta are a match made in heaven.
- Fresh Rosemary: I think that fresh herbs are such a crucial part of flavourful cooking. Rosemary suits this dish perfectly!
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Cheese: Top the pasta with torn burrata or crumbled feta cheese instead of the Parmesan/Pecorino Romano for a creamy contrast to the rich tomato and garlic confit sauce.
- Herbs: Experiment with other fresh herbs like basil, thyme, or oregano to introduce new flavor dimensions.
- Add Protein: For a more substantial meal, incorporate grilled chicken, sautéed shrimp, or roasted chickpeas.
How to Make Tomato and Garlic Confit Pasta
- Place the tomatoes, garlic cloves, shallots, rosemary, olive oil and a generous amount of salt in a large baking dish or oven proof pan and toss to combine.
- Bake at 150°C (300°F) until the tomatoes and garlic are soft, about 1 hour. Keep 2 tablespoons of the oil in the pan, then set aside the remaining oil for another use.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain and reserve 1/2-1 cup of pasta water. Place the pan with the confit and oil over medium heat and add the cream, then bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Remove the rosemary, then blend the ingredients until smooth with a stick blender. Toss with the cooked pasta.
- Gradually incorporate the cheese and pasta water until the sauce has a glossy texture and good consistency. Serve hot with a garnish of chilli flakes and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Cherry tomatoes are ideal for this recipe because they’re naturally sweet and roast beautifully, creating a jammy texture that’s perfect for confit. You can also use grape tomatoes or any small, ripe tomato variety with good flavour.
I prefer a shorter pasta for this recipe – so I think a penne it’s great for it. But, it is what suits your taste and what you’ve got leftover in your pantry.
Yes! The confit can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight jar, fully submerged in its olive oil. It’s a great way to save time!
Serving Tomato and Garlic Confit Pasta
This tomato and garlic confit pasta is the perfect quick meal for a busy day! Round out your meal with some quick-cooking, healthy veggies like these hot honey roasted carrots or crispy Brussels sprouts with bacon–or try a colourful salad like basil garlic pesto pasta salad or roasted pumpkin salad with kale. Or serve this with a wedge of homemade bread, like fig and goat’s cheese focaccia or caramelized onion sheet pan pizza!
Expert Tips
- Use high-quality olive oil. Since the confit is the star of this dish, a good extra virgin olive oil will elevate the flavour. The oil carries the sweetness of the tomatoes and richness of the garlic.
- Don’t skip the pasta water! Adding a few splashes of reserved pasta water helps emulsify the sauce, and make it silky so it clings to the pasta beautifully.
- Boil the pasta until it’s 1-2 minutes before al dente. Let it finish cooking to your desired tenderness in the sauce so the pasta can soak up all that flavour.
Other Pasta Recipes To Try
Have questions or want to leave a review? Please do so below the recipe card! I always love answering your questions and hearing your feedback.
If you make this recipe, please follow me and tag me on Instagram, Tik Tok, or Pinterest so I can see your wonderful creations!
Tomato and Garlic Confit Pasta
Ingredients
For the Tomato & Garlic Confit
- 18 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 2 bulbs garlic, peeled
- 6 shallots, peeled
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the Pasta & Sauce
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 ounces grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
- 11 ounces penne pasta
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
- Confit: Combine the tomatoes, garlic cloves, shallots, rosemary, olive oil and generous amount of salt in a large baking dish or oven proof pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until the tomatoes and garlic are soft. Reserve 2 tablespoons of olive oil the pan, and set aside the rest of the oil in a jar to be used in any other dish that requires olive oil. It will have a beautiful tomato and garlic flavour!
- Cook Pasta: Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil. Follow the instructions on the back of the pasta packet for al dente pasta, but drain the pasta 1-2 minutes before the suggested cooking time. Reserve up to ½-1 cup of pasta water.
- Blend Confit: While the pasta cooks, place the pan of confit on the stove and bring it to a slow simmer on a medium heat. Add the cream and cook for several minutes, or until bubbling. Remove the rosemary sprig and discard. Using an immersion blender or blender, blend the ingredients until smooth and well combined.
- Add Pasta Water: Add the pasta to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Slowly incorporate the pasta water and the cheese until you have a silky and glossy texture. You may not need all of the pasta water, so do this step slowly.
- Garnish & Serve: Serve immediately with a sprinkling of chili flakes and extra cheese.
Video
Notes
- Use high-quality olive oil. Since the confit is the star of this dish, a good extra virgin olive oil will elevate the flavour. The oil carries the sweetness of the tomatoes and richness of the garlic.
- Don’t skip the pasta water! Adding a few splashes of reserved pasta water helps emulsify the sauce, and make it silky so it clings to the pasta beautifully.
- Boil the pasta until 1-2 minutes before it’s al dente. Let it finish cooking to your desired tenderness in the sauce so the pasta can soak up all that flavour.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This is such an incredible recipe. It’s the closest thing I’ve found to the taste of penne all vodka that you would find in Rome. 10/10!
Thank you for the lovely review! I am so happy you enjoyed it
This sounds so amazing, I can’t wait to try it! We have pounds and pounds of cherry tomatoes from the garden this year, so I’m wondering – could one freeze this sauce successfully?
You absolutely could! I have some frozen in my freezer right now.
Can’t wait to use my 48980775948759843987 cherry tomatoes that have taken over my garden!! 🤣
Thank you so much for the great recipe!!!
Soon I will have a BOUNTY of what looks like 9475047507 tomatillos ripening on the vines as well. I will be back soon looking for new recipes, LOL.
What a great way to use up all your tomatoes! I always make big batches of tomato confit to preserve summer in a jar!
Garlic and tomato confit with cheese and pasta sounds amazing! Creamy sauces with pasta with amazing flavors like from the confit make a perfect dinner.
Made this twice and it’s so good. Great savory flavor and definitely in the rotation.
I am so happy to hear this!