Angel Hair with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I normally roast cherry tomatoes every week - about 6 boxes at a time - as they can be used for countless amounts of dishes. They are especially good with pasta but also good with other roasted vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, in meat dishes and stews, in farro cooked in the manner of risotto, or even in Insalata di Riso. The possibilities are endless.

Angel Hair with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

For this dish, which takes all of 15 minutes to make, not including the time it takes to roast the tomatoes, the use of bacon and anchovy with the texture of the semi-crunchy tomatoes results in a savory sauce of great depth and complexity. I call this Amatrice (bacon) meets the sea (anchovy)! Of course, for those of  you who are vegetarians and vegans, all you have to do is omit the bacon and the anchovy and you have an Arrabbiata sauce!

To roast the tomatoes:

Preheat over to 350ºF. I have a convection roast option on my oven so I do convection at 325º (it's the best!)

Pour about 4 tbl. olive oil in a heavy bottomed cast iron skillet.

Add 1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

4-6 boxes cherry tomatoes (red or a combination of red, orange, yellow - whatever you like or have in the house)

Roll the tomatoes around in the pan with your hand until they are well coated with the oil, salt and thyme.

Put pan in middle rack of the oven and roast for 35-45 minutes, or until the skin on the tomatoes begins to wrinkle and you can see visible signs of darkening of the skin. Take the pan out of the  oven, allow to cool and place in an airtight plastic storage container. At this point you can refrigerate or use immediately (or both depending on how many tomatoes you have). 

For the sauce:

6 tbl. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 thick strips of slab bacon, medium dice

1 small onion, minced

3-4 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife and coarsely chopped

5 anchovy fillets 

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

8-10 basil leaves (chiffonade or chopped coarsely)

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 tbl. chopped parsley

1/2 cup white wine

4 cups roasted cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste if necessary

1 lb. Angel Hair

Fill a large pot (2 gallon capacity is good) with water (about 3/4 full) and place on stove over high heat (covered)

While water is heating prepare the sauce. 

Pour olive oil in a heated cast iron skillet or any heavy bottomed pan. Add the bacon and saute until the bacon begins to render its fat. Add the onion and the garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become translucent. Add the anchovies, red pepper flakes and herbs. Continue to saute until all ingredients begin to form a mass. Add the white wine and let reduce to a few tablespoons of juice. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat up a bit and cook until the tomatoes begin to yield their juices and a sauce forms. Continue to simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes.

By the time you get to the point where you are going to add the tomatoes to the sauce, the water should be boiling. Add a heaping handful of salt (Kosher is preferable) to the water and add the pasta and stir until the noodles are completely immersed in water. Cover the pot to bring the water back to the boil as quickly as possible. You have to be careful to watch the pot lest the water and foam boils over. Once the water has come back to the boil, remove the cover and stir occasionally to ensure that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. 

Keep an eye on the tomatoes and stir occasionally to incorporate as much juice into a thick mass as possible (you definitely want reduction to take place here). Just before draining the pasta, take a ladleful or two of pasta water and add to the tomatoes. Turn the heat up a bit and boil the sauce for about 5 or 6 seconds before bringing the sauce back to the simmer. Add one last tablespoon or two of olive oil to the sauce for flavor.

When the pasta is done (Angel Hair cooks very quickly so timing is everything here), drain the pasta and add the pasta to the sauce. Take off of heat and mix thoroughly. This should be enough sauce to completely coat the noodles without inundating it in a sea of sauce.

Serves 4 as a main course or 6-8 as a first course. Dress the pasta when plated with Reggiano Parmiggiano, Pecorino Romano, or even toasted bread crumbs (recipe below) if you prefer.

Buon appetito!

Toasted Bread Crumbs

Bread crumbs (especially to Sicilians, as I have said before) are something very dear indeed. It is a sad day indeed when one is forced to buy the Progresso packaged stuff on the grocery shelves. If you can't make your own bread crumbs from old, stale bread (in a food processor), then buying a couple of bags of pane grattugiato in an Italian bakery (which are grated almost daily) will do in a pinch. There are several schools of thought on bread crumbs: flavored with herbs, toasted, plain, with cheese; as in all things Italian, there are endless possibilities given the right imagination. Using plain or toasted depends completely on your personal taste but traditionally, toasted bread crumbs go best on pasta, while plain or flavored are best for breading meat and vegetables, although, there isn't an Italian I know who doesn't flavor their bread crumbs when it comes to breading food. I found a recipe for bread crumbs with orange peel and fennel seed  which I use in addition to my mother's (and grandmother's) tried and true recipe so i will give you both!

First of all, you need good, stale bread. Dried to the bone as it were. I use ciabbata, semolina, baguettes, even leftover dry toast. If the baguette dries out (as it invariable does in my house), I keep it in the bag, let it dry out and after 3 or 4 days, take a hammer or a meat pounder to the bag and crush the loaf into bits and pieces and pour the contents into a food processor and process until very fine. I then store them in a metal container (an old cookie tin works perfectly). This is the plain version.

For toasted bread crumbs: take about 3 cups of bread crumbs and spread them out on a large baking sheet. Toast in the oven at 400º for 12 minutes. Turn oven off and let cool in the oven.

For flavored bread crumbs the possibilities are infinite.

My favorites are:

3 cups bread crumbs 

2 tbl. fennel seed finely crushed in a spice grinder (I have a coffee grinder which I use exclusively for grinding spices)

The rind of one large navel orange, dried over a period of a week and then ground in the spice grinder.

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix this combination and store in an airtight container and use when needed. This combination makes a fantastic and very delicious breading for veal or chicken. You also have the option of adding grated Grana or Reggiano for added flavor.

My mother's bread crumbs:

4 cups bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbl. dried thyme

2 tbl. dried oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground fennel seed

Mix this combination and store in an airtight container and use when needed. The exception here is this: if you are using these crumbs to bread steak, chicken, veal or using in stuffing for a braciole or another dish, the addition of cheese is almost mandatory as well as other ingredients such as onions, celery, raisins or nuts, and even apples or dried fruits and sausage (for stuffing).

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