ROASTED TOMATO AND GARLIC PASTA
From Al Fresco
This is an infinitely adaptable tomato, garlic and basil pasta dish.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Remove most of the outer layers of the papery skin from the heads of garlic and slice off the tops so all the cloves are visible. Put the garlic in a small baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in aluminium foil. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the cloves are very soft. Remove the garlic from the oven and let cool completely in the baking dish. Turn the oven down to 165C.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Put them on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, lightly drizzle with olive oil, and arrange them cut side down on the pan. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until they look slightly wrinkly and deflated. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet.
Now cook the pasta! Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook until al dente; drain in a colander. If you’re using an “alternative” pasta (like chickpea or lentil), be sure to rinse it thoroughly under cold water, or it will get mushy and stick together.
Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl, add a healthy pour of olive oil, and squeeze the softened garlic cloves from their skins. Toss well to combine. Then add the basil (I like to roll the leaves up in a bundle or two and cut them using kitchen scissors). Add the roasted tomatoes and another glug of olive oil if needed. Finish with salt if necessary and parmesan or nutritional yeast, and serve.
In these trying times, it’s hard to imagine there could be leftover wine at the end of the night. But if you’re having a glass of wine at dinner and not a bottle (well done), the remaining juice doesn’t have to become another dusty cooking wine.
According to online wine subscription service Good Pair Days, it’s important to understand what “bad” means. This description can range from the “vinegarisation” of wine, which takes place over a long period, to the more common flattening of a wine’s flavours and aromas after coming into contact with oxygen. The latter is more likely what’s happening to last night’s half-empty bottle of shiraz.
“When we open a bottle of wine, we allow air to fill the space between the remaining wine and the cork or stopper, and that air breaks down the acids and tannins, and causes it to lose its structure,” says Good Pair Days founder and sommelier, Banjo Harris Plane.
“It’s the same process which helps wine age and ‘breathe’ when we swirl it around our glass, but extreme oxidation can cause wine to be unpalatable.”
Harris Plane says wines with a high level of tannin and acid (wines like cabernet sauvignon) can handle more oxidation before they become “too flat and flabby” to drink. Lighter wines, such as pinot noir or sparkling will break down quicker and are best drunk sooner. If you don’t intend finishing the bottle, it needs to be kept away from oxygen, heat and light. For red wines, seal the bottle with a cork or winestopper and leave in a cool, dark place. “Full-bodied red wines will probably taste even better for a day or two after opening. But three to five days is the general rule for most wines.” White wines and rosés, meanwhile, should be corked and kept in the fridge for three to five days.