recipes articles & more

Win Steven Raichlen’s Must-Have Grilling Tools
How to Roll a Roulade Cake
Ingenious Kitchen Tips
Tour Steven Raichlen's Kitchens
How to Make Chocolate Soufflés
How to Make Barbecued Chicken
10-Minute Strawberry Recipes
Quiche Recipe: Create Your Own
Recipes Dads Love
Strawberry Mojito

Print It| Add to Favorites| | Pin It

Grilled Cherry Tomato Pasta with Crisp Breadcrumbs & Basil

by Joanne Weir

read reviews (2)

Grilling the tomatoes for this colorful pasta salad intensifies their flavor by concentrating their juices and gives their perfectly shriveled skins a smoky flavor.

Look for inexpensive, disposable bamboo skewers at the supermarket. To avoid burning the tips of the skewers, soak them in water for at least half an hour before grilling.

Serves six as a light main dish or eight to ten as a side dish.

To learn more, read the article:
High Heat is Best for Grilling Tomatoes

Get a quick and delicious recipe every day with our FREE Make it Tonight newsletter Make it Tonight Recipe

orecchiette cherry tomatoes breadcrumbs more more

2 cups red cherry tomatoes (about 12 oz. total)
2 cups yellow cherry tomatoes (about 12 oz. total)
2 cups orange cherry tomatoes (about 12 oz. total)
1 cup very coarse fresh breadcrumbs
6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 to 4 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 lb. dried orecchiette pasta
3/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves

Prepare a grill by adjusting the grill grate so that it’s 4 to 5 inches from the flame or heat source. Heat a gas grill to high and a charcoal grill to medium hot (the coals should be covered with light ash, and you should be able to hold your hand just over the grate for no more than 3 seconds).Thread the tomatoes on parallel skewers.

Heat the oven to 375°F. Put the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet, drizzle with 2 Tbs. of the olive oil, and toss to distribute the oil evenly; season with salt and pepper. Bake in the middle of the oven, tossing occasionally, until the breadcrumbs turn golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In a bowl, whisk the remaining 4 Tbs. olive oil with the balsamic vinegar. Season the vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.

Grill the skewered tomatoes, turning occasionally, until the skins darken and blacken in spots and begin to blister and shrivel, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the skewers and set aside.

Cook the orecchiette in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and toss with the tomatoes and the vinaigrette, pour into a serving bowl, and garnish with the breadcrumbs and basil. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed, and serve immediately.

nutrition information (per serving):
Size : based on ten servings; Calories (kcal): 280; Fat (g): 10; Fat Calories (kcal): 90; Saturated Fat (g): 1; Protein (g): 7; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 7; Carbohydrates (g): 42; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1; Sodium (mg): 290; Cholesterol (mg): 0; Fiber (g): 3;

photo: Scott Phillips

From Fine Cooking 46 , pp. 51

August 1, 2001

user reviews

Rate this Recipe

by taisie49, 8/2/2012Possibly this works as a side dish but it didn't work for me as a main dish. Basically it lacked flavor, even though I added a lot of basil. Made half the recipe but added 1 cup of the bread crumbs which is a nice touch and gave it some crunch because the tomatoes were very soft. Used farmers market tomatoes and still the flavor lacked. Also, the cooking times are underestimated, the tomatoes took about 15 minutes, the bread crumbs about 5. Am not saving the recipe.

by Scooteroo, 8/1/2012This is a very flavorful pasta dish! We used fresh basil and some panko bread crumbs, but roasting the tomatoes pushed the flavors over the edge--on the good side. I'm used to heavy garlic in pastas and there's none included in this recipe, yet wonderful flavors come through. We also kept some pasta water aside and ended up adding it to the finished bowl since we thought the pasta was a just a little dry; however even the day afterward, the flavors were good. Nice light summer flavors for an excellent side dish.

see all recipes