Food Recipes Salads Pasta Salads Fregola with Charred Onions and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes 1 Review Fregola is a bead-shaped pasta from Sardinia; it’s nicely chewy, which makes a phenomenal base for a summer salad. By Jeff Banker Jeff Banker Chef Jeff Banker knew he wanted to cook from an early age and began working in restaurants while still in high school. After studying hotel and restaurant management at California Polytechnic State University, he began his professional cooking career at Pascal in Newport Beach before moving on to Patina in Los Angeles. Banker later worked at several notable San Francisco restaurants, including Postrio, Bix, Acme Chophouse, and Home. From 2009 to 2014, he and his wife, pastry chef Lori Baker, ran the acclaimed Baker & Banker. From 2022 to 2023, they joined Maybeck’s in San Francisco as chef-owners. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 25, 2026 Save Rate PRINT Share Close Credit: Peden + Munk Active Time: 20 mins Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Servings: 8 Yield: 8 Jump to recipe Slow-roasting cherry tomatoes concentrates their sweetness and infuses them with rosemary and thyme.Grilling the red onions before baking them in balsamic vinegar gives them charred flavor and tender, tangy edges.Fregola tossed with the roasted tomatoes, onions, herbs, and balsamic makes a flavorful side that can be prepared a day in advance. Chef Jeff Banker roasts cherry tomatoes in the oven before adding them to the fregola, which concentrates their sweetness and gives them a deeper flavor. Red onions that are first grilled, then baked with balsamic vinegar, add even more sweet complexity to the dish, balanced by the vinegar’s tangy acidity. What is fregola? Fregola, or fregula, is a Sardinian semolina pasta formed into small, irregular spheres and toasted, giving it its characteristic nutty flavor. While the pasta was traditionally shaped by hand, commercially produced fregola is generally made with machinery; some producers, however, use modern equipment to reproduce the traditional hand-formed texture. Fregola can be cooked like pasta in a large pot of boiling water, as it is here, or simmered directly in a sauce or broth. It can also be prepared risottata, or risotto-style, by adding liquid gradually and stirring as the fregola absorbs it. Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Let the onions cool in their balsamic cooking liquid before chopping so they absorb more of the tangy flavor.Don’t discard the crispy rosemary and thyme leaves after roasting; strip them from their stems and toss them with the fregola. Keep Screen Awake Ingredients 1/2x 1x 2x Oops! Something went wrong. Our team is working on it. This recipe was developed at its original yield. Ingredient amounts are automatically adjusted, but cooking times and steps remain unchanged. Note that not all recipes scale perfectly. Original recipe (1X) yields 8 servings Tomatoes 1 pint cherry tomatoes 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 rosemary sprigs 2 thyme sprigs Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Onions 2 medium red onions, sliced 1/2-inch thick 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar Fregola 3 cups fregola 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 cup torn basil leaves Directions Prepare the tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 300°F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the tomatoes with the olive oil. Add the rosemary and thyme sprigs and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are ready to burst. Strip the crispy leaves from the herb stems; discard the stems. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F. Prepare the onions: Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the onions with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium-high heat until nicely charred but still crisp in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the onions to a baking dish. Add the vinegar and the 1/4 cup of olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, until tender. Let the onions cool in the liquid, then coarsely chop them. Reserve the liquid. Make the fregola: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fregola and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. While the fregola is still warm, add the onions and their cooking liquid, along with the tomatoes and crispy herbs. Stir in the vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the basil and serve. Make ahead The recipe can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight. Serve at room temperature. Originally appeared: June 2012 Cook this recipe and more in the MyRecipes app. Get the App Save Rate Print Loading shell for RecipesUgcThreaded1 Vue component in Globe.