Heirloom Tomato–Basil Pasta with Olives and Feta Recipe
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This dish epitomizes the laziness of summer: It’s as simple as folding a handful of fresh ingredients into cooked pasta. Use the ripest tomatoes you can find and you’ll be rewarded with a flavorful sauce that gives cooked tomato sauce a run for its money.
What to buy: Heirloom tomatoes make this dish extra tasty, but it can also be made with ripe grape tomatoes.
Orecchiette are an ideal match for this dish because they hold the sauce perfectly. If you can’t find them, use penne rigate, farfalle, campanelle, gigli, or gemelli.
Game plan: The tomatoes get tastier the longer they sit, so if you have time, you can complete step 1 up to 3 hours before serving. If not, the dish will still be delicious, but you’ll probably need a little pasta cooking water to help things along. And remember not to refrigerate the tomatoes, which will degrade their flavor and texture.
This recipe was featured as part of our Cooking with Summer Ingredients story, as well as our Easy Weeknight Dinners and Tomatoes!... read more
- 2 pounds ripe heirloom tomatoes
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound orecchiette pasta
- 1 cup crumbled feta
- Cut tomatoes into small dice. Combine tomatoes and any accumulated juices with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large nonreactive bowl, stir gently to coat well, and let sit at room temperature at least 10 minutes or up to 3 hours before serving.
- When tomatoes are ready, add olives, basil, and garlic and mix until well combined. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to the package directions. (If the tomatoes have not let off a lot of juice, reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining.)
- Toss warm pasta with tomato mixture, adding pasta cooking water as needed. Fold in feta and serve.
I made this dish tonight and it was fantastic! I absolutely love it - definitely a keeper!
Awesome dish. Extremely flavorful and very simple and quick to make.
This is the best thing my family's had all summer - it's definitely a keeper.
A real keeper, We used Ricotta Salada instead of feta since it is less salty, although a little harder to find.
Delicious! I used a big boy tomatoes that we grew in our garden. I seeded them before I chopped up and let then sit for four hours. There was plenty of juice. In fact I am going to make it again this weekend and get a loaf of bread to help soak up the juices. I made this with feta which I love and fresh mozzarella for the rest of the family. Everyone ate this, even my picky Mother. Very easy. This is a keeper.
Yum...amazing flavor and so easy. This will go into my normal summer meal rotation.
I just made this today and I lovee it! I didn't have any orecchiette on hand so I used whole wheat rotini and some nice kalamata olives. I also used greek feta and fresh basil from my garden. The saltiness of the feta and olives really makes the sweetness of the heirloom tomatoes and basil shine.
Yum. The pasta looks meaty and sauce delish! Thank you.
i cant waite to cook this
Seriously, I love this dish--it's simple, easy--and perfect on days I don't want to cook but need something healthy. Though usually I add shrimp or chicken for a protein fix, and some spinach for extra fiber (I also use whole wheat pasta).
The feta melts just enough in the warm pasta, that it becomes sort of creamy, and the tomatoes are heavenly with a little salt and some good olive oil.