Balsamic Tomato Macaroni With Olive Pangrattato

For a simple yet flavorful dinner, try Christina Soteriou’s balsamic tomato macaroni from her cookbook Big Veg Energy. This dish combines roasted cherry tomatoes, shallots, and garlic to create a rich, garlicky tomato sauce.

Adding balsamic vinegar brings a tanginess to the dish, making it a delicious plant-based option. The macaroni is topped with olive pangrattato, a crunchy breadcrumb topping made with Kalamata olives, lemon zest, and garlic for extra texture and flavor.

This recipe is perfect for weeknight dinners or when you want a hearty yet quick meal. It’s a great way to use pantry staples like pasta and olive oil while incorporating fresh tomatoes. Plus, it can easily be adjusted for dietary preferences. Serve it on its own or with a side salad for a complete meal.

The creamy tomato sauce pairs beautifully with the al dente macaroni, and the pangrattato adds a nice crunch. If you have leftovers, simply add a splash of water or plant-based milk before reheating to keep the sauce smooth and flavorful.

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Balsamic tomato macaroni

Try this balsamic tomato macaroni with olive pangrattato for a rich and tasty pasta dish ideal for winter.

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Duration45 minutes mins

Servings4

Ingredients

• 3 Shallots
• 4–6 Garlic cloves
• 450 G Ripe cherry or plum tomatoes
• 75 ML Olive oil plus extra for drizzling
• 200 G Macaroni
• 3 TBSP Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pangrattato

• 1 Garlic clove
• 8–10 Kalamata olives
• 1 Large slice of sourdough bread stale works best
• Zest of 1 lemon optional
• 1 TBSP Olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
• Peel the shallots and garlic, cut the shallots into eighths and leave the garlic whole. Add these to a small casserole dish or a roasting tin – a dish into which everything will fit snugly so that not too much liquid escapes.
• Add the tomatoes, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, and shake to coat. Cover with a lid (or cover tightly with foil) and bake for 40 minutes, until everything is very soft. The garlic should melt when pushed with a fork, and the shallots should be completely softened. Everything should be swimming in a pool of garlicky tomato juice.
• Meanwhile, make the pangrattato. Mince the garlic and finely chop the olives. Whizz the bread into breadcrumbs in a food processor, then put in a bowl. Add the minced garlic, lemon zest and olive oil, and crumble together with your fingers. Set aside.
• Heat a large, dry frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chopped olives and fry for 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until they start to get crispy. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for 3–4 minutes until golden and fragrant. Taste before you season as the olives can be salty. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Cook your pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente (1 minute less than the packet instructions). Drain and set aside, drizzling with a little olive oil to prevent from sticking.
• When the tomatoes are ready, remove about a third of them and set aside. Blend the remaining, juice and all, with a stick blender or in a stand blender, until smooth or almost smooth.
• Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce. Add the balsamic vinegar and season well with salt and pepper.
• Ladle the pasta into bowls and top with the reserved tomatoes and olive pangrattato.

Extracted from Big Veg Energy by Christina Soteriou (Ebury Press, £26), Photography by Joe Woodhouse.

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