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Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Marinara
with side salad

Active: 35 min Total: 35 min
Searing cherry tomatoes until they blacken in spots and burst open concentrates their flavor. It makes them a great flavor base for homemade marinara in this quick stove top meal.
Cuisines

Ingredients

Metric
Servings:
4
Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Marinara:
  • Shallots - 2 bulbs , chopped
  • Garlic - 4 cloves , chopped
  • Tomatoes, cherry or grape - 1 1/2 cups , halved
  • Pasta, spaghetti or linguini - 10 oz
  • Butter - 2 Tbsp
  • Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
  • Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
  • Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
  • Tomatoes, crushed (15 oz / 397 g) - 1 can
  • Sugar - 1/4 tsp
  • Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp
  • Cheese, parmesan (opt) - 1 oz , grated
Mixed Greens Salad with Creamy Cilantro Vinaigrette:
  • Jalapenos - 1/4 , chopped
  • Cilantro leaves - 2 Tbsp , leaves torn and chopped
  • Garlic - 2 cloves , chopped
  • Yogurt, plain or Greek - 1/3 cup
  • Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
  • Lime juice - 2 tsp
  • Mustard, Dijon - 1 tsp
  • Honey - 1/4 tsp
  • Cucumbers - 8 oz , chopped
  • Mixed greens - 5 oz
  • Pepitas / pumpkin seeds - 1/4 cup

Prep

  1. Shallots / Garlic - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
  2. Make creamy cilantro lime vinaigrette - (Double if making Thursday's meal.) Roughly chop jalapenos (you can skip these or use just a small amount if you prefer less spice), cilantro and garlic (portion for the salad). Combine with yogurt, olive oil, lime juice, mustard and honey. Blend with an immersion blender. Taste and season with some salt. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
  3. Tomatoes / Cucumbers - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 2 days ahead)

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Make

  1. Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil. When water boils, add pasta and cook until tender. Drain.
  2. While water is boiling / pasta is cooking, make marinara.
  3. Heat a large saute pan with cooking oil over high heat. Add cherry tomatoes with a pinch of salt and saute until tomatoes soften and start to blacken in spots, 4 to 5 minutes. Set blistered tomatoes aside and return pan to heat.
  4. Reduce pan to medium heat. Add butter and then shallots. Saute until shallots are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic (portion for the marinara), Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Pour crushed tomatoes over top and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes to let the flavors develop. Remove from heat and stir in blistered tomatoes, sugar and lemon juice. Season with some salt and pepper.
  5. Toss greens, cucumbers and pepitas with vinaigrette.
  6. Serve tomato marinara over pasta with some parmesan cheese if you’d like. Enjoy salad on the side.

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