Tomato spaghetti with roasted tomatoes and mustard
Pasta I can eat just about any day of the week. I think I have said it before, but I will tell you again; it is the perfect meal for using leftovers. Tom and I have had a fabulous weekend with lots of sunshine and a really nice foodfestival called “the weekend of the rolling kitchens” which was held in Amsterdam. The festival was held from the 2nd of June till the 5th of June and we were wise to pick the saturday to go there as the weather was perfect, nice and sunny while on sunday it rained the entire day. It was a fun festival where I was surprised to see what people where able to cook up in a caravan, old trailer or some even on an old bike! Believe it or not… We had dumplings (delicious ones I might add) that were prepared in a wok (as you would expect) but that was heated in a small wood fired oven inside an old bike!
Stove inside a bike cart
We had some really good food too and some lovely wines as well. We did a little wine tasting where we each got three different wines to taste. I picked the white ones and Tom had the red ones, but I think we all loved them. We will definitely be buying those!
Anyway, on our way back we started talking about food and the amount of food we waste on a year basis. It’s quite shocking really. I go to the supermarket (remember we don’t have anything else here in the neighbourhood!) and buy groceries for the week, including vegetables, meat and such. I pop whatever we have to into the freezer and the only thing I still have to buy are some vegetables. But what happens at the end of the week is that a lot of stuff is leftover. We didn’t cook on tuesday or we had an unexpected
Rolling kitchens
invitation for dinner with friends on thursday and so on. I’m ashamed of it really, as it is good food that goes bad just because we are too lazy to come up with some way to use it. I know everyone does it and I know most people feel bad about it, but that doesn’t mean that it is ok. So we decided then and there that we’re gonna be using up our supplies in a better way.
So to start of on my new good intentions I decided to dive into our fridge and see what needed to be used urgently. It was tomatoes; I had loads of tomatoes in the fridge, from small ones to big ones and they would not last much longer. So tomatoes it was… And then my obvious choice was to ad that to a good pasta.. I told you I could eat pasta with anything…
I asked Tom to pick up some fresh pasta on the way to home as well as some smoked chicken. From our cupboard I added tomato cubes, some wholegrain mustard and some German Schmand (creme fraiche) that I brought with me from Plate to Page. I roasted the tomatoes in smoked salt and pepper with olive oil and a beautiful little dish was born.
Tomato spaghetti with roasted tomatoes and mustard
Yield: 2
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
- 300 gr fresh pasta
- 150 gr smoked chicken
- 1 can of cubed tomatoes
- 2-3 tbsp of creme fraiche
- 1 tbsp of whole grain mustard
- 500 gr tomatoes
- smoked salt
- pepper
- some cheese grated
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 200 C and put your tomatoes in a baking tray. Sprinkly generously with olive oil and smoked salt (if you do not have smoked salt, regular seasalt will do just fine) and freshly ground pepper.
- Put the tray into the oven and roast for about 15 minutes.
- In the meantime put on your water for the pasta with generous salt.
- Cut the smoked chicken in small strips.
- Heat some olive oil and bake the chicken briefly. Add the tomato cubes to it and the creme fraiche.
- Add 1 tbsp of mustard and taste. Season where needed
- Cook your pasta per the package instructions, drain and add to the sauce.
Recipe by Simone van den Berg
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Mmmmh that sounds delicious!
About the wasting of food we do: I changed the habit of hoarding everything once a week in bulk in my fridge. We still go shopping once a week but now in the summer days, we just stop at the market on a daily or often like twice a week to buy veggies and fruits and fresh stuff we need. this way it serves my ever changing mind about what I want to eat better … we still have leftovers sometimes but most of the time they can go into the freezer for later use.
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Mmmm tomatoes, crème fraîche and smoked chicken is pasta heaven! And now I have to try it with added mustard! This is our perfect summer meal! I also must add that some of our best meals come when JP pulls out ALL of our leftovers and concocts something ad lib. He is so good at that plus it empties the fridge in a better way than tossing it all in the trash.
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I can’t even begin to tell you how much food I throw out per month, especially due to some of DK challenges. When there’s only two of you, and you cook for 4 (never know, might want more), it’s such a waste. Not to mwntion all the fresh fruit and veggies I buy for recipes, then forget about in the back of the produce bin! Weeks later, I pull out living and breathing mold lol
This spaghetti looks incredible. I would have never thought of pairing mustard with tomatoes, but I just know it adds an extra kick that really makes the dish shine (I added some to white chocolate ganache, and it was good!). Stunning, eye-popping photos as always
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A wonderful pasta dish! As a matter of fact, this week, I used leftovers to make my pasta sauce… Pasta are so versatile and fabulous.
I love your summery pictures.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Oooh – every time I click on your website I just envy your talent.
Simone, you should never refrigerate tomatoes. It kills their flavour and renders them nutrition-less also. My husband is the king of ‘waste-not-want-not’ and (especially) this time of year when tomatoes are ripe and robust with flavour you should be preserving them. We pick them, and blanch them for a few minutes in boiling water, peel them and freeze them in bags. During the winter when tomatoes come from the other end of the world and are tasteless we slow-roast them with olive oil and salt/black pepper. Throw them in an air-tight jar or tub (juice and all and that will ensure you have tomatoes every day and never waste one ever again.
Now, I want pasta for lunch and it is only 10am here!
Have a lovely weekend,
Móna xxx
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I like the addition of the whole grain mustard. I did a tomato tart last year where you smear mustard on crust first before the cheese and tomatoes. Adds such an interesting flavor. Soon to be tomato season here, I can’t wait to start eating them in sauces.
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This is a great take on spaghetti. I like the add of the mustard and creme fraiche.
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I would have never thought of adding mustard! What made you think to do that? Can you describe the taste?
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Simone (junglefrog) — June 20th, 2011 at 14:13
The mustard gives a great flavor to the dish. I thought it needed something extra and figured mustard would work well in this dish. It’s not very overpowering here but it gives it a lovely bit of extra. Just try it!
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I have been on the “trhow less out” mission for a year or two now – you are singing the song of our life when you talk about unexpected dinners out and fresh produce slowly deteriorating in the fridge uneaten! I make a huge stir-fry or a frittata or soup with tired veg; I make a stroganoff-style sauce with pork chops with sour cream; and I make crumbles with past-their-best fruit – all are great tricks for minimising waste! Love the chicken-mustard-tomato combo – and the pics
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