My fridge was bare...

I work a lot of hours. A typical day for me starts around 9:00 am when I leave my house and ends when I get home after teaching class, usually 10:30 pm at night. If it's a Saturday, I leave my house at 7:00 am. We're in a period of transition right now, passing over the threshold of a medium sized culinary program and into a large program. This means I'm going to get to hire more help--eventually. For now, it means 12 hour days are my norm.

Adding to the regular workload, I'm involved in a few special projects at work, the most recent of which required me to travel out of town for about a week. The trip was great, but being out of town combined with my hectic schedule means that my fridge is pretty bare. 

I really wanted to cook something for dinner, but I really didn't want to get out and go to the grocery store. So, I took inventory of my fridge: a partial jar of kalamata olives, capers in brine, onions, garlic, a brick of parmesan cheese, and a box and a half of grape tomatoes. My pantry revealed a box of linguine, some dried rosemary, and I always have olive oil on hand. Dinner was just a sheet pan and a pot of boiling water away.

Linguine with Roasted Tomatoes, Capers and Olives

This recipe evolved out of my bare fridge and pantry, so I made due with what I had on hand. I think it would benefit greatly from some freshly chopped parsley, but was really tasty as presented.

Serves 2

3 to 4 cups of grape tomatoes

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

1 cup pitted kalamata olives

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 to 12 ounces linguine pasta

parmesan cheese for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Place the tomatoes, onion slices, capers, olives, and garlic slices in a shallow baking dish or on a rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the rosemary, salt and pepper. 

Place in the oven and roast until the onions have begun to caramelize and the tomatoes are burst and beginning to brown, about 20 to 30 minutes.

While the tomato mixture is roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the linguine according to the package directions.

Mix the drained pasta and roasted tomato mixture in a large bowl, drizzling with more oil as needed. Divide into two pasta bowls and using a vegetable peeler, shave parmesan cheese on top to garnish.  Serve.