Penne Pasta with White Bean and Roasted Tomatoes

Even though we had a rainy St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I know that Spring is on its way.

Look what’s blooming now in my garden.

Even though I have neglected my garden recently, I haven’t had time to do some weeding and I go for days without watering the flowers because of my busy schedule, they seem to be doing ok.

This is the first rose plant to have a flower. We have about 9 roses that we inherited in our house. I’m excited for the others to bloom so I can harvest the roses and put them in a vase inside the house.

These past few weeks, we’ve had a few birthday celebrations, including the husband’s birthday.

I picked out his cake this year, based on the flavors he likes, chocolate and strawberry.

I want to learn how to make a cake like this. The middle icing is light and fluffy, but the chocolate cake is dense. I like that combo.

Juicy strawberries as cake toppings.

I bought this delicious cake from French’s Bakery in Orange County. I’ve never been there so when I walked in to pick up the cake, my oh my…..there were so many delicious pastries in there. I will need to go back soon.

To balance out all the cake and cupcakes I’ve been enjoying lately, I’ve made sure that I have healthy lunches to pack throughout the week.

I did something new (well, new-to-me) this week, I roasted grape tomatoes.

I can’t believe how much flavor the tomatoes have after being roasted. It’s so sweet but still tart at the same time.

Perfect for a pasta dish, don’t you think?

Penne with White Bean and Roasted Tomatoes

(recipe inspired by Ellie Krieger)
Ingredients

• 1 container (about 4 cups grape tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced carrot
• 2 T olive oil (I used garlic olive oil)
• 1 can white beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup hummus of your choice
• 3 cups (uncooked) whole wheat Penne or other pasta of your choice
• 1/2 cup or more feta cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

*Optional: Add 1/2 to 1 cup tomato sauce if you want the pasta dish to have more sauce.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut tomatoes in halves lengthwise, sprinkle with sea salt and roast 30-35 minutes.

While tomatoes are roasting, chop onion, celery and carrots. Heat olive oil in heavy frying pan, add carrot and saute 3-4 minutes, then add onions and celery and saute about 5 minutes more, until vegetables are just starting to brown.

Add canned beans to pan and saute until it’s heated through. Turn off heat, then add the roasted tomatoes, and gently combine.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes for Trader Joe’s whole wheat pasta. Drain well.

Place pasta in a large bowl. Pour bean mixture over the pasta, add hummus and toss gently a few times.

Crumble feta cheese over pasta and serve hot.

I love the different texture in this pasta. I had it for lunch three times in one week. It’s one of those dishes that still taste good when eaten cold or at room temperature.

When the pasta leftovers got a little dry, I just added a little bit more hummus and olive oil.

Another option is to add sausage with the pasta, which is what I did for the husband’s portion.