With a punch of savory flavor from roasted tomatoes, this simple, yet elevated, linguine pasta recipe is perfect for late summer evenings.
So, you roasted a bunch of tomatoes after Monday’s post. Now what do you do with them? Make linguine pasta, of course! This linguine recipe has been one of our favorite dinners this summer. Along with finely diced roasted lemon, the tomatoes infuse the tangles of linguine noodles with rich, savory flavor. These little guys pack such a punch that all you need is a little cheese, a handful of herbs, and a drizzle of olive oil to perfect this simple, yet elevated, linguine recipe.
If you roast the tomatoes ahead of time, this one is super easy to toss together. So pour a glass of wine, kick back, and soak in the last days of summer with a big plate of pasta!
Summer Linguine Pasta Ingredients
Looking at the recipe below, you’ll notice that this pasta takes inspiration from a quintessential summer dish: Caprese salad! Because tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella are a match made in heaven, I put them front & center here. The tomatoes are the star of the show, while the mozzarella adds creamy richness, and the basil freshens it up.
I accent this classic combo with thyme leaves, crunchy pine nuts, zesty roasted lemon, fresh lemon juice, and bitter arugula for extra green. Salt, pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil tie it all together.
Linguine Pasta Variations
This simple recipe is flexible, so feel free to play with it depending on your tastes and what’s in your pantry. Here are a few ideas for changing it up:
- Use your favorite cheese! Crumbled feta or goat cheese would be excellent.
- Switch the pasta! I love linguine pasta here, but another long-cut pasta, like fettuccine or spaghetti, would work too. Or for an all-veggie meal, swap the pasta for roasted spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. This recipe is also fantastic with homemade pasta.
- Simplify your pasta by omitting the cherry tomatoes. Add an extra handful of arugula and finish your linguine with a shower of grated Parmesan cheese.
- Make pesto linguine! Skip the thyme, and toss your pasta with a few big scoops of pesto. It’s delicious with the roasted tomatoes, lemon, and fresh mozzarella.
- Make it vegan by skipping the cheese. Add a few handfuls of roasted chickpeas in its place to make this pasta heartier.
Let me know what variations you try!
If you love this linguine recipe…
Try another of my favorite pastas like this pesto pasta, roasted vegetable pasta, pasta pomodoro, roasted veggie lasagna, or fettuccine alfredo with cauliflower alfredo sauce. Then, find 25 more easy pasta recipes here!
For more easy dinner ideas, check out this post!
Linguine with Lemon & Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 cup Roasted Tomatoes
- 4 very thin lemon slices
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 ounces linguine pasta
- 1 1/2 cups arugula
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 3 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
- ½ cup fresh basil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the lemon slices on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for for 15 to 20 minutes or until they’re golden brown around the edges. Finely mince the lemons and set aside.
- In the bottom of a medium-sized (cold) pot, combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon sea salt.
- Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, cooking until al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water. Scoop the hot pasta into the pot, along with the reserved pasta water, the arugula, and toss. If necessary, gently heat until the arugula wilts and the pasta is warmed through. Add the thyme, tomatoes, lemons, and toss again. Top with the mozzarella, pine nuts, and basil. Gently toss, season to taste and serve.
Loved this recipe, especially the steps laid out for marrying the pasta to the sauce. I’m wondering, though, if I’m doing something wrong with the lemons….they came out of the oven pretty moist, such that when I minced them, they ended up in a mush and didn’t integrate evenly throughout. Any advice would be appreciated!
Hi Amy, hmmm, it’s hard to say without seeing what’s going on. My guess is they weren’t sliced thin enough to crisp up a bit. If they’re thicker, maybe they’re just getting soft and mushing up. I’d try slicing them thinner and waiting until they get golden brown and lightly crisp on the edges.
Wow, this was a great recipe! I live in southern CA and have a meyer lemon tree that bears fruit in winter and early spring so I had to settle for a supermarket lemon and was dubious how it would taste. Roasting the lemon slices was delicious and I can’t wait to try roasting lemon slices the next time I make shrimp scampi pasta. The roasted tomatoes were delicius as well and so easy. Will make this again and again!
Jeanine, This recipe is simple and absolutely delicious! This is a restaurant-quality dish prepared simply at home. The roasted tomatoes and lemon along with the other yummy ingredients made for a flavorful satisfying dish! Wow, you did it again!
For dessert we made your perfect brownie recipe. Doesn’t get better than this! Is a third cookbook in the works? Right now, we are cooking your recipes exclusively- nothing else compares. Your grasp on flavor and simplicity is exceptional! Can’t wait to try more! Thanks! 💜
You’re so sweet, thank you for taking a few minutes to leave such wonderful feedback – your comments have made my day! Next year 🙂
Very good recipe. I made it tonight 👌
We don’t normally like pasta but we make this one ALL of the time! Thanks for sharing! We also add sundried tomatoes in oil & crushed red pepper! I would’ve never thought to roast lemons but it is the extra kick that elevates this dish to the next level!
I’ve never roasted lemon before and was concerned about mincing it, rind and all, but my worries were completely unfounded and I’m SO glad I tried this! The roasted tomatoes and lemon add so much deliciousness to this dish, it was super simple to whip up & I’ll definitely be making it again!
I used protein+ spaghetti and added roasted zucchini. Super versatile.
I’m so glad you loved it – lemons and all!
This was a hit! Even the under 10 age kids liked it! I definitely will be making this again.
I don’t post a lot of comments, but I had to for this recipe. I made it last night for my family of 4 as a last-minute meal, based on what I had on hand. I have to say, everyone LOVED it!! I had doubled the recipe and it was all gone in no time … and they still wanted more. I was feeling quite ambitious so I whipped up another batch (so easy!) as my family hung around for round two. This is an absolute keeper!
I didn’t leave out the thyme but i added some pesto and charred some bread in the oven after rubbing it in the juices from roasting the tomatoes and lemon, it was super good
Thanks for the recipe! Although I deviated quite a bit from your instructions (I fried chicken thigh, crushed almonds, cherry tomatoes and lemon all in the pot and used the juice from that instead of the leftover water) it worked out great! Thanks.
I’ve made this once before, exactly as the recipe is written and it was fabulous. Tonight, I was in a hurry after work, so thinly sliced the lemons and then diced them and tossed into a pan with Meyer Lemon Olive Oil and the pine nuts to saute a bit. I was out of linguine, so I used macaroni (I’m using up old pastas, pantry items, etc since converting to a whole food plant based diet 2 months ago). I also had some leftover Vegan Parmesan cheese from another of Jeanine’s recipes, so I tossed it in for additional nutrition. It added a very nice flavor that compliments everything else in this dish! This recipe is still amazing, even with these changes. Just wanted to give a shout out to those who may not have every item listed in the recipe on hand. Get creative like I did. This recipe is great as a base for using up stuff in your fridge and pantry.
Thanks, Jeanine, for yet another home run recipe!
Hi Elisa, I love hearing this! I’m so glad it was such a flexible recipe for you. Love the tip about sautéing the lemons!
Made this today and loved it! Have never made slow roasted tomatoes before, this was such a great discovery, and so much fresher tasting than store bought pasta sauce!
Where is the nutrition information for the recipes?
apologies, I don’t post nutrition facts.
Is there a calorie count for this recipe?
These look so incredible. Thanks for sharing.
Made this tonight, everyone loved it!
I’m so glad to hear!!
Great combo of yummy fresh ingredients! I’m going to try it with the goat cheese for a little extra punch. Thanks!
made this today, even the kids were stuffing their faces! it’s amazing, would recommend!