Roasted Tomato and Garlic Spaghetti

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Spaghetti

There are some days when the compulsion to spend a long time cooking is lacking (basically I can't be bothered), when time is limited (the baby needs a feed) and I need to throw something together quickly.  Pasta, is often the store cupboard saviour.  Pasta (and something) is the staple of most diets - not that that's a bad thing, especially when the '...and something' is as good as this.

In this recipe, the garlickly Olive Oil is the pasta's "sauce", so it is important to use a really good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Don't however have the spaghetti swimming in oil.  That's not nice for anyone.

INGREDIENTS:
One Handful of Small Tomatoes (per person), cut in half
1-2 fat cloves of garlic (per person), thinly sliced
Few sprigs of fresh Thyme
Good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Spaghetti
Parmesan / Grana Padano

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C fan / Gas Mark 5
2. In an ovenproof dish put the halved tomatoes, the sliced garlic, sprigs of thyme and a generous splosh of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  
3. Place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.  Check every so often and give it a gentle stir, making sure the garlic doesn't burn and the tomatoes don't turn too much into mush.
4. When the tomatoes are nearly done, cook the spaghetti in a pan of boiling salted water. 
5. Take the tomatoes out of the oven, and if needed add a splosh more of olive oil and give it all a stir scraping up all the delicious caramelised bits at the bottom.  
6. Drain the pasta when it is cooked (but still has some bite) and stir in the tomatoes and garlicky oil. 
7. Grate over a generous amount of Parmesan (or Grana Padano) and a good grind of black pepper and serve.