Garlicky Pasta with Marinated Feta & Arugula

Pasta recipes used to be a staple on this blog, but in the last couple years I’ve had to waaaayyy scale back on the pasta for health reasons. But I LURVE pasta and was super excited to try out a new recipe that was 1) super easy and 2) super delicious.

I’d never marinated feta before, and boy, is *that* dangerous knowledge to have now! You have no idea how hard it was not to just eat that marinated feta straight out of the bowl. YUMMM.

One thing that’s great about this recipe is its simplicity. Other than making sure you have high-quality feta, the rest of the ingredients were ones I generally have on hand or can easily grab at the grocery store (like the arugula). But if you’re having it for a date, make sure you both eat a ton because it is super garlicky, so you want to have an even playing field 🙂

In a bowl, whisk together two tablespoons of the olive oil, the vinegar, oregano and crushed red pepper. Stir in one minced garlic clove. Crumble in about 4 ounces of the feta, stir, and place the bowl in the fridge. You can do this the night before, morning of, etc., but do it at least 30 minutes before you are ready to use it. Because…”marinated” requires marinating.

In a another bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the other minced garlic clove, and set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a handful of salt, and cook the farfalle to al dente according to the directions on the box (usually 6-7 minutes). Place the baby arugula in a very large bowl.

While the pasta is cooking, put the pine nuts in a small skillet and heat over low heat. Stir or toss/shake the pan constantly so the pine nuts don’t burn and keep a close eye on them! Cook until golden, toasty and fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Once the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and pour it over the baby arugula. Drizzle the garlic olive oil over the pasta and cover the bowl with a piece of foil (or a dinner plate). Let it sit for 5 minutes, which will wilt the arugula. You can always give it a good stir to help the process along if it’s not wilting well enough.

Then toss the pasta with the marinated feta and pine nuts. Add the remaining 2 ounces of feta on top (I actually tossed the rest of the feta in, since I had 8 ounces total).

Toss well and serve! Definitely make sure you taste it before adding any additional salt and pepper, since it’s quite salty all on its own.

This is so easy and delicious it’s almost not fair to other recipes…

Garlicky Farfalle Pasta with Marinated Feta and Arugula

6 ounces of feta cheese, crumbled (use good quality if you can, like a block vs. pre-crumbled)
5 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound of farfalle (you can use whole wheat, though the texture is different)
8 ounces of baby arugula
1/3 cup of pine nuts

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a handful of salt, and cook the farfalle to al dente according to the directions on the box (usually 6-7 minutes). Place the baby arugula in a very large bowl.

Then toss the pasta with the marinated feta and pine nuts. Add the remaining 2 ounces of feta on top (I actually tossed the rest of the feta in, since I had 8 ounces total). Toss well and serve! I’d taste it before adding any additional salt and pepper, since it’s quite salty all on its own.

Original recipe from How Sweet Eats

Other delicious meatless pastas you might like:

Giovanna’s Pasta con Pesto (aka my absolute go-to dish in the entire world)

Pasta with Creamy Butternut Leek Sauce

Pasta with Spinach, Tomato, & Feta

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