Cavatappi with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Pesto
on Jul 19, 2019, Updated May 07, 2025
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It's hard to make a summer produce pasta that is not a stunner; this one is bursting with basil and roasted tomatoes.
Summer, summer, summer. The word is fat and round and breezy and rolls around nicely on the tongue. And we want our food to be breezy, too.
If you have basil and tomatoes growing in your garden, make this pasta recipe. If you have a farmers market near you, make this. If you have leftover pesto hanging around (even store-bought), you can still make this.
Cavatappi with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Pesto is not too hard on the eyes, either. If you had some roasted peppers hanging around, you could slice them up and add them to the mix. I would also tuck a few whole basil leaves in here and there for a really gorgeous presentation.
And then serve it up with some grilled chicken, such as Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lime, Roasted Garlic, and Fresh Herb Marinade or Simple Herbed Grilled Chicken.
Summer pastas are usually just plain gorgeous.
Table of Contents
It’s hard to make a summer produce pasta that not a stunner; this one is bursting with basil and roasted tomatoes.
Recipe Tips and Variations
You’ll cook the pasta and make the pesto in the time it takes to roast the little tomatoes. You can see that I used yellow tomatoes in many of these pics. No reason; it’s what I had. This would be perfect with any color of tomatoes, and a mix of colors would be super lovely.
By no means do you have to use cavatappi — it was the pasta I grabbed at the moment, and I love its compact, chewy, twisted little shape. Below, you will see another version with more orangey tomatoes and gemelli. At some point I will add yet ANOTHER series of photos with mixed-color tomatoes and large elbows. God knows what hell will break loose after that.
Also, this calls for a lot of tomatoes, but they really shrink down during roasting. If you only had two pints, you’d still be in business. Just place them on the top to serve so they don’t get lost in the tossing.
Another thing to love is the fact that this can be served hot, warm, or at room temperature. It’s a great make ahead dish, hanging out happily for a day in the fridge before bringing to room temperature and serving, and it’s very portable.
More Summer Pasta Recipes
- Perfect End of Summer Pasta Salad
- Simple Vegetarian Pasta Salad
- Pasta with Fresh Heirloom Tomato Sauce
- Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
- Simplest Tomato, Corn, Basil, and Mozzarella Pasta Salad
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Cavatappi with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (halved)
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ cup olive oil (approximately, divided, plus more for serving as needed; this is a very subjective amount — you'll see)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 cup packed basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 pound cavatappi (or other chunky pasta)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and coat it with nonstick cooking spray. Place the tomatoes and thyme sprigs on the baking sheet and toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes, until they are wrinkly and slightly collapsed.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, make the pesto. Place the garlic and basil in a food processor or blender and pulse until everything is roughly chopped. Add 1/3 cup of the oil, a bit of salt and pepper and process, scraping down the sides, part way through, until everything is well blended. If it is very thick, add a bit more olive oil. Add the cheese and pulse until blended in.
- Cook the cavatappi according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and drain the pasta. Toss the pasta with the cooking water, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil (more if it seems dry), and half of the roasted tomatoes (discard the thyme sprigs), and transfer to a serving bowl. Distribute the rest of the tomatoes over the pasta, dollop the pesto on top, and toss. Add more olive oil if desired. Serve hot, warm, or cold.
My family and I love this recipe. We make it regulary and comes together in no time. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Heaven on a fork, perfect hot weather dinner!
This looks great. Two questions:
1) What does “5 fresh thyme” mean? Five tsp? Five sprigs? Five pounds? :)
2) “It’s hard to make a summer produce pasta that not a stunner, but this one is bursting with basil and roasted tomatoes” — English not quite is, as Master Yoda would say.
Can you clarify?
thanks for pointing that out – during the migration to the newly designed site there were a few glitches. And my grammar is not always perfect – but I think an added semicolon helps a bit!