The creamy pasta with feta and cherry tomatoes is a tasty and very quick recipe, whose sauce you can prepare roughly in the time it takes for the pasta to cook. If you love creamy and flavorful first courses, you’ll adore this pasta with feta and cherry tomatoes, which captures all the aromas and flavors of Mediterranean cuisine: the sweet taste of the date tomatoes – I used a mix of red and yellow ones – basil, garlic, oregano, plus the decidedly savory and slightly tangy note of feta cheese.
Preparing creamy pasta with feta and cherry tomatoes is easy and quick: you just need to let the whole cherry tomatoes soften in a skillet for 6-7 minutes, then add the feta (also whole) and let it melt slightly before tossing the pasta with it, using a bit of its cooking water. For the pasta with feta and cherry tomatoes, I used farfalle, but penne, fusilli, or trofie are also great!
You might also be interested in these recipes:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 2 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 484.25 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 56.93 (g) of which sugars 6.73 (g)
- Proteins 14.12 (g)
- Fat 22.77 (g) of which saturated 8.42 (g)of which unsaturated 3.00 (g)
- Fibers 6.06 (g)
- Sodium 1,031.52 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 275 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Pasta with Feta and Cherry Tomatoes
- 11 oz pasta (I used gluten-free farfalle)
- 7 oz feta
- 21 oz cherry tomatoes (yellow and red)
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 6 leaves basil
- 1 pinch oregano
- to taste coarse salt
Tools
- 1 Skillet non-stick with lid
- 1 Spoon
How to Prepare Pasta with Feta and Cherry Tomatoes
To prepare creamy pasta with feta and cherry tomatoes, start by washing and drying the cherry tomatoes. I used red and yellow date tomatoes, but simple red cherry tomatoes are also fine. It’s not necessary to cut them in half, especially if they are small, as you will crush them with the back of a spoon once softened.
Bring abundant lightly salted water to a boil and cook the pasta. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: sauté a garlic clove in the oil (1), then add the whole cherry tomatoes (2), the torn basil, and a pinch of oregano (3).
Cover with the lid (4) and let it cook on high heat for 6-7 minutes. Then, remove the lid, slightly crush the cherry tomatoes with the back of a spoon (5), and moisten them with a little pasta cooking water.
Lower the heat and with the spoon, create a free space in the center of the skillet by pushing the tomatoes to the edges (6).
Place the feta in a single piece (7) and immediately cover the skillet with the lid. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes on low heat until the feta starts to melt.
Moisten it with a little pasta cooking water (8) and mix to combine it with the cherry tomatoes. Drain the pasta al dente, transfer it to the skillet, and toss it off the heat for about a minute, using a bit of its cooking water (9).
The feta should melt almost completely, but you can also leave some pieces more intact. Serve the creamy pasta with feta and cherry tomatoes immediately.
Tips and Variations
I suggest not adding salt to the preparation, except for the little needed to slightly salt the pasta water. Feta is a very savory cheese, even more so when used in cooking.
