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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Tomato & Garlic Confit Pasta
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.
Those pasta ribbons were calling my name! This is totally a comfort food recipe for me, so I foresee this popping up on our winter menu a lot this season. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
That makes me so happy to hear, Leslie! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Love the tomato garlic flavor to this awesome pasta recipe. This is just my comfort meal for Dinner. Thanks. Making again this weekend.
Hooray! So glad to hear, Veena... thanks for sharing with me 🙂
I just wanted to dive into this massive pile of pasta so I had to make it! it's just as tasty as it looks. And crazy easy. Can't wait to make it again...it's going to be a regular.
Thanks for sharing, Amanda! Glad to hear you enjoyed it and will be making it again.
Recipes like this are so perfect! I couldn't believe this takes only 15 minutes worth of prep time...but it actually does! So worth it for an amazing pasta meal!
So glad to hear you it came out amazing, Leslie... Buon appetito!
I had never made tomato garlic confit before but it came out looking incredible. I also love that it doesn't take much prep to make such a flavorful meal. Will make again for sure!
That is so wonderful to hear, Kelly... it's definitely a special dish that looks WAY fancier than the amount of work you have to put in. Thanks for sharing with me how you liked it!
SO much flavor in this tomato garlic confit. Along with pasta, this is an easy and delicious meal for meatless dinners.
Thank you so much, Neli! Glad to hear you enjoyed it and it was easy for you to make!
Love love this. Great idea to confit everything, then add to the pasta. Couldn’t wait to make it. My husband won’t eat much pasta ? so I made it when I girlfriends over and everyone loved!!!
That makes me so happy to hear! Such a great, light but decadent pasta for girls night 🙂
How delicious! I've had confit tomatoes before and they are so sweet. It really is a unique cooking method. What do you do with the olive oil after?
For this recipe, I use the olive oil as a part of the sauce! All of it gets used up, and it's all delicious. Can't wait to hear what you think!
15 minutes of work? Count me in! I love the way the garlic and cherry tomatoes are slow cooked in the oven, this pasta dish is not only easy, but was also absolutely delicious!
Thank you so much for sharing, Aleta! Glad you enjoyed the ease of this delicious pasta!
This Tomato & Garlic Confit Pasta was making me hungry just looking at it! I wanted this in front of me immediately so I had to make it! I love the idea of cooking this slowly in the oven. The flavor really came out, it was so easy, and everyone loved it!
That is awesome to hear, Dennis! Thanks for sharing how easy it was for you... such a great dish that is even a touch fancy... so it's a great one for weeknight meals AND for fancy dinner guests!
This looks so yummy! By the way, how long can the confit keep if I make a big batch?
Hi Joyce, great question! Let them cool, pop them into a sealable container, and they will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Hope this helps!