Cherry Tomato & Garlic Confit Tagliatelle

A perfectly light, satisfying comfort pasta. And cherry tomato and garlic confit does all the work for you as it slow cooks in the oven, so you can enjoy this decadent dinner with only 15 minutes of work.

What is tomato confit?

The word confit means to preserve. In cooking, it is used to describe the process of slowly cooking something in oil. Imagine deep frying, but at a much lower temperature for a prolonged period of time.

Light pasta sauce - My favorite way to use tomato & garlic confit

The tomato and garlic confit serve as a perfectly light, olive oil based pasta sauce. You will need the following ingredients:

• olive oil
• salt
• garlic
• parsley
• cherry tomatoes
• thyme
• pasta

Step by step tomato confit recipe - with photos

Preheat oven to 275F. With a paring knife, poke a hole in each clove of garlic and each cherry tomato (photo 2). Add the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, salt, thyme, and (optional) red pepper flakes to an 8”x8” or approximately equivalent base area baking dish. I used a 6"x10" dish in the photos. You don't want to use a dish too large or the olive oil won't cover as much of the tomatoes. Toss to coat (photo 3). Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can leave it in the oven for up to 2 hours, so no need to worry if you get busy doing other things.

Remove from the oven (photo 1 below) and squeeze all the garlic cloves out of their skins, discard the thyme sticks, and carefully smash the tomatoes and garlic cloves with a fork (photo 2 below). Mix well (photo 3 below). Taste and season with salt as necessary. Place back in the (off) oven to keep warm until the pasta is cooked.

Place a large pot of water on high heat for the pasta. Season with 2 teaspoon sea salt. Cook per the package until al dente. Mix the drained pasta with the tomato and garlic confit in your serving dish. Toss to coat well. You want all the noodles to be covered in the olive oil, tomato, garlic confit mixture. Garnish with parsley leaves. Serve immediately.

Looking for more delicious vegetarian pasta recipes?

If you love this recipe, I know you'll enjoy these:

• Aglio e Olio Gnocchi with Broccoli Rabe & Pumpkin
• Pasta Puttanesca
• Pasta with Basil, Tomato, Arugula, & Pine Nuts

Or check out my pasta archives here.

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5 from 17 votes

Tomato & Garlic Confit Pasta

A perfectly light, satisfying comfort pasta. And cherry tomato and garlic confit does all the work for you as it slow cooks in the oven, so you can enjoy this decadent dinner with only 15 minutes of work.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: French, Italian

Servings: 4

Calories: 838.74kcal

Author: Candice Walker

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 cloves garlic unpeeled
• ▢ ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 pints cherry tomatoes any size, color, shape
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ½ tsp red pepper flakes optional
• ▢ 6 sprigs thyme fresh
• ▢ 1 pound pasta I used tagliatelle
• ▢ 2 teaspoons sea salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ⅓ cup parsley leaves

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 275F. With a paring knife, poke a hole in each clove of garlic and each cherry tomato.
• Add the garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, salt, thyme, and (optional) red pepper flakes to a 8”x8” or approximately equivalent base area baking dish. Toss to coat. Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and squeeze all the garlic cloves out of their skins. Discard the thyme sticks, leaving the leaves. Then, carefully smash the tomatoes and garlic cloves with a fork. Mix well. Taste and season with salt as necessary. Place back in the (off) oven to keep warm until the pasta is cooked.
• Place a large pot of water on high heat for the pasta. Season with 2 teaspoon sea salt. Cook per the package until al dente.
• Mix the drained pasta with the tomato and garlic confit in your serving dish. Toss to coat well. Garnish with parsley leaves. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can make the tomato & garlic confit up to 1 day in advance. Keep covered at room temperature. Heat before serving.

You can leave the confit in the oven for up to 2 hours, so no need to worry if you get busy doing other things.

Nutrition

Calories: 838.74kcal | Carbohydrates: 97.95g | Protein: 17.87g | Fat: 42.62g | Saturated Fat: 5.97g | Sodium: 332.89mg | Potassium: 841.57mg | Fiber: 5.93g | Sugar: 9.07g | Vitamin A: 1723.51IU | Vitamin C: 65.8mg | Calcium: 79.1mg | Iron: 4.04mg

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