This tomato and garlic confit is the perfect sauce to be paired with handrolled pappardelle pasta and rich Woodbridge Smokehouse salmon fillets, that have been traditionally hand smoked. While confit may sound like a complicated cooking technique, it’s extremely simple and extremely rewarding in terms of flavour. Store the leftover oil in a jar to be used in salad dressings or more pasta dishes.
Serves: 4 | Time: 2 hours
Ingredients
500g cherry tomatoes
6 garlic cloves peeled
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
50g pecorino romano
250g pappardelle or pasta of your choice
½ – 1 cup pasta water
2x 150g Woodbridge Smokehouse hot smoked salmon with cracked pepper
Method
Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
In a small baking tray, place your cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and salt and mix well. The tomatoes and garlic should be fully submerged in the olive oil. Bake in the oven for 1 – 1.5 hours. There should be a slight little bubble in the oil as we want our tomatoes and garlic to cook very slowly.
Once your tomato and garlic confit is ready, take it out of the oven and set to the side.
Cook the pappardelle in a large pot of heavily salted boiling hot water. Follow the instructions on the back of the pasta packet for el dente pasta and drain your pasta 2 minutes before the suggested cooking time as it will continue to cook when we stir it through the sauce. Reserve 1/2 – 1 cup of pasta water.
While your pasta is cooking, transfer your tomato & garlic confit to a deep wide pan with one third of the oil. Keep on a low heat.
Toss the pasta through the tomato and garlic confit and slowly incorporate your cheese and pasta water until a glossy and silky texture forms. Break the salmon fillets up with your hands, add to the pasta and stir through.
Take your pasta off the heat and serve immediately with an extra sprinkling of pecorino romano and enjoy!
