Roasted Garlic Pasta with Tomatoes and Spinach

Roasted garlic pasta with tomatoes and spinach uses two whole heads of sweet and buttery slow-cooked garlic to form a spaghetti sauce.

Whilst this recipe takes longer than most pasta dishes, most of the time is not active, you are just waiting for the garlic to cook. Active cooking time is around 15 minutes.

Roasted Garlic Spaghetti

I may be an outlier when it comes to garlic in the foodie world... I definitely think that garlic can be overdone in a recipe.

Not every recipe that contains garlic should only taste of garlic, as far as I am concerned.

But when garlic is the point of the dish, then garlic needs to be front and centre!

It does not matter whether it is a curry like my garlic chilli chicken, a classic garlic chicken Kyiv or my garlic lemon chicken breast, there should be a mountain of garlic in the recipe.

This recipe uses two whole roasted heads of garlic... for two portions of pasta!

The garlic is roasted until it becomes gloriously mellow, and then it forms the base for a simple pasta "sauce".

If garlic is your mojo, then you need to stick this simple garlic spaghetti recipe on your dinner plan for the week.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does roasted garlic taste like?

Don't worry if you've never tried roasted garlic; it is not the same as raw garlic!

The process of roasting removes all of garlic's fiery elements, and what remains are the most beautiful and mellow flavours that are like garlic... but different!

The taste is almost sweet and nutty, and it has a beautiful buttery texture.

Do I have to roast the garlic?

For all of the reasons that I have mentioned above, yes!

Can I roast the garlic in an air fryer?

Yes! This recipe has been on my site for a very long time, but I tried roasting garlic in an air fryer fairly recently, and it works a treat.

Follow my instructions for the preparation and then pop fo the foil packets in an air fryer and cook them for 30-35 minutes at 170°C or 340°F for 30-35 minutes.

Can I make this in advance?

No, this dish does not reheat well if it is made in its entirety!

But you can roast the garlic up to a couple of days in advance if you like, which will cut down on the amount of time spent in the kitchen just before eating.

Serving Suggestions

A simple bowl of pasta needs just one thing as a side, as far as I am concerned, and that is some form of garlic bread.

I'd usually choose a small garlic baguette, but some cheesy garlic bread would work well too!

Your biggest serving choice with this roasted garlic pasta recipe is the type of pasta; I usually opt for spaghetti.

But this recipe works equally well with most types of longer pasta. I've served it with everything from linguine to pappardelle and tagliatelle to malfadine.

Equipment Used

I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Oven.
• Hob/stovetop.
• 20cm or 8" saucepan.
• 30cm or 12" frying pan.
• Kitchen knife.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen foil.
• Mixing bowl and fork to mash the garlic.
• A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
• Colander.
• Stirring and serving spoons or kitchen tongs.

Roasted Garlic Pasta with Tomatoes and Spinach

4.80 from 15 votes

Two whole heads of roasted garlic (one per serving) form the flavour base for this delicious garlicky pasta recipe alongside tomatoes and spinach.

Main Course

Anglo Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 2 Servings

Calories 577kcal

Author Brian Jones

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Ingredients

For the Pasta:

• 175 g Spaghetti 6oz
• 150 g Cherry Tomatoes 1 Cup
• 100 g Baby Spinach Leaves 2 Packed Cups
• 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt (for boiling the pasta)
• Parmesan Cheese to Garnish (optional)

For the Roasted Garlic:

• 2 Heads Garlic
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt

Instructions

• Cut the tops off each head of garlic and place them on separate squares of tin foil.

  Divide the olive oil and sea salt for the roasted garlic, and pour/sprinkle the top of each head of garlic with them.
• Wrap each head of garlic, place them in the oven and roast them for 40 minutes at 180°C or 350°F. Then remove and allow to cool until they are cool enough to touch.
• Remove the garlic cloves from the skins, mash them and set them aside.
• Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
• Pick the spinach and clean it well.
• Bring a 20cm or 8" pan of well-salted water to a boil and cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. I use 1½ teaspoons of salt in a pan this size.
• Whilst the pasta is cooking, heat a 30cm or 12" saucepan over a high heat and add the olive oil for the pasta sauce.

  When the olive oil is hot, lay the cherry tomatoes cut side down and allow them to sear for two minutes.
• Add the cleaned spinach, pour over the balsamic vinegar, add a lid and then cook for 2-3 minutes or until the spinach has wilted.
• Drain the pasta reserving around 75ml (⅓ cup) of the cooking water.
• Remove the lid from the spinach, add the cooked pasta and roasted garlic and give everything a stir adding as much pasta water as is required to form a nice emulsion.

Serving: 1 | Calories: 577kcal | Carbohydrates: 87g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Sodium: 627mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 4g