Roasted, Stuffed Tomato Pasta

Roasted Stuffed Tomato Pasta
1 lb of cherry tomatoes or other type small tomato
1?2 cup parmigiana cheese
1?2 cup fresh, unseasoned bread crumbs
4-5 leaves of basil
2 small cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of capers (optional)
1 chili pepper (optional)
olive oil
1 onion
Spaghetti for 2-4 people (use a finer gauge spaghetti)

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and with a small spoon, scoop out the insides. Discard the seeds and inside gunk.

In a blender, puree the parmigiana cheese, basil, garlic and capers and chili pepper with a little bit of olive oil.

With that small spoon, loosely fill the cherry tomatoes with the cheese mixture.

Place the tomatoes on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven at 300F degrees for 20 minutes. You want the tomatoes to be bubbly and a little bit brown on top.

Put on a big pot of salted water to boil.

Finely chop the onion.  Uhhh…peel it first. But, you knew that, right?
In another pan, like a frying pan, but big enough to hold all of the pasta, sweat the onion in some olive oil.  That means, keep the heat low, keep stirring and don’t let the onions brown.  You can also add a chopped chili pepper or two to the mix.

When the water comes to a boil, cook your pasta.  When the pasta is about a minute away from being done, add a ladle full of the cooking water to onion. Drain the pasta and place in the frying pan. Continue cooking the pasta until it is done and the water has been absorbed.  Add a remaining cheese mixture to the pasta and mix thoroughly.  (This is a little tricky, too much water and you have soup, not enough and your pasta won’t be cooked all the way. It is a technique worth mastering as your pasta will absorb much more of the flavors this way.)

When you are ready to serve the pasta, place in a bowl, then place the stuffed cherry tomatoes on top with any of the cooking juices.  Serve immediately.