Angel Hair Pasta with Arugula, Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, and Pine Nuts
I had some angel hair pasta to use up, so I created this light, simple, and extremely tasty pasta dish for dinner. I love the salty feta cheese with the spicy arugula and crunchy nuts. The tomatoes add a nice color, flavor, and texture to the dish, and the garlic and olive oil finish it off. I love that this meal took 15 minutes to prepare and that my entire family loved it. I served this delicious, easy vegetarian pasta recipe with a simple salad and freshly baked roasted-garlic French bread.
Angel Hair Pasta with Arugula, Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, and Pine Nuts
Ingredients:
- ½ lb. angel hair pasta, prepared per instructions, reserving ¾ cup of cooking water
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
- 1½ cups of small grape or cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 cup of arugula
- ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbles
- 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
How to Make Angel Hair Pasta with Arugula, Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, and Pine Nuts:
Cook the angel hair pasta to al dente in a large pot of well-salted boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of pasta cooking water.
Meanwhile, cook the tomatoes by heating the olive oil (or butter) in a large skillet over medium heat, add the tomatoes, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.Â
Finish the dish by adding the cooked, drained pasta, along with the arugula and the reserved cooking water, as needed, to the skillet. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Toss until well combined.
Serve immediately, topped with feta cheese crumbles and pine nuts. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ lb. angel hair pasta prepared per instructions, reserving ¾ cup of cooking water
- 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 1½ cups of small grape or cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to taste
- 1 cup of arugula
- ¼ cup feta cheese crumbles
- 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
Instructions
- Cook the angel hair pasta to al dente in a large pot of well-salted boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, cook the tomatoes by heating the olive oil (or butter) in a large skillet over medium heat, add the tomatoes, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
- Finish the dish by adding the cooked, drained pasta, along with the arugula and the reserved cooking water, as needed, to the skillet. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Toss until well combined.
- Serve immediately, topped with feta cheese crumbles and pine nuts. Enjoy.
Gorgeous picture! I just love your healthy recipes.
Very attractive 🙂
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oh dear .. this looks mouth watering tasty .. i am a pasta lover and keep trying with them all the time!
We love pasta and this looks so good. Diane
I had no idea what arugula was. Looking at your photos it looked like rocket, so I found out that arugula is for us know as rocket.
I love it for being such an aromatic salad green ♥
Last night I said to my self: "You have to make pasta tomorrow,nice pasta with tomatoes, cheese and arugula!" End here it is on your blog 🙂 Wonderful!
I love arugula (rúcula en spanish), looks so good and healthy recipes.
I love Angel Hair it is so light and has a beautiful texture when you eat it! I also love feta, tomatoes etc. This recipe is perfect for me! I will definately make this!
That not only sounds delicious but it looks so pretty too!
Delicious and healthy – nice job Pam
Looks v attractive with those cherry tomatoes on top ..,..looks perfect:)
This is my kind of pasta!
Now that is a beautiful plate of pasta!! I bet it tasted even better than it looked too!!
those grape tomatoes give life to pasta
That looks delicious, Pam! I love the combination of flavors!
Kim in MD
That looks devine!
This is my favourite way with pasta any time of the year.
I love colorful dishes! This sounds so good and I love the addition of the pine nuts.
Just beautiful!
Angel hair is my SIL's favorite kind of pasta and she loves Greek… def need to make this for her :)Love all the pretty colors.
My favorite shape of pasta! Plus my favorite type of cheese. Very nice.
as a brew crew member, I was thinking about what some great brunch ideas would be. Do you have any suggestions?
What a beautiful dish! I really enjoy angel hair pasta–it's nice to have a "lighter" pasta once in a while!
Arugula and feta go together like ham and cheese. What a beautiful pasta dish!
Robert,
Check under my egg, breakfast, and muffin categories… I am sure you will find quite a few tasty brunch options. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Pam
I enjoy the Barilla brand pastas. This looks like a terrific easy meal!
what a great dish with light ingredients! Looks wonderful!
This sounds delish! I will have to make it soon!
The flavors in this dish sound wonderful!
Pam, I always look forward to seeing what's next from you because you always keep me thinking of new, creative dinner ideas. This is just wonderful, and so simple and so delicious. I'll have to give it a try soon. Thanks so much!
Looks delicious! Nice photos!
Sooo pretty! Looks delicious!
What a beautiful dish!
I have to wipe the drool off my chin. This looks wonderful.
I love the colours, just gorgeous.
just gorgeous! love the flavors and especially the pine nuts!
Wonderful meal Pam, it looks absolutely inviting!
I always find inspiring dishes here. As a matter of fact, I "borrowed" another one of your links for National Sweet Potato Month.
Thanks for sharing…
I always admire your ingredients which come in variety of colours! Lovely!
I love anything with feta cheese. The colors in this look amazing = an healthy too. We need a few more healthy dishes in our world!
Can't wait to try!
Susan http://www.ugogrrl.com
Great idea! I never thought of mixing arugula and pasta. I'll have to try it!
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I love the simplicity of this pasta recipe. There's only 7 ingredients and I bet that you can taste each one. I may try this with a bit of fresh basil.
feta's starting to grow on me (not literally, of course), and i'm always up for some pignoli.
I think i’ll try it out.
thanks for sharing the recipe
These flavors are so dear and familiar to me. I love the colora too.
That plated shot looks so drab….you should add some color to it or something 😉 j/k it's awesome!
I came across your blog a week or 2 ago & I have been making & enjoying quite a few of your recipes. I wanted to share about something crazy that happened to me..
I made your Cous Cous salad with feta, tomatoes & pine nuts & also your Orzo salad with spinach, tomatoes, feta & pine nuts last Sun & Mon nights & I have since experienced "pine mouth" Here&
Hi, I love your blog! but what is angel hair pasta? its not something ive ever heard of before. I also like making simple recipes, it annoys me when chefs try and over complicate dishes with lots of ingredients.
Love this dish, i m looking for this king of stuff !!
Nicely done. I love food that looks beautiful on a plate! Is there a “cold” version of this. Or could you make suggestions for an adaptation? Thanks so much.
Susan,
I have eaten this pasta cold the next day and loved it. If you want to serve it cold, I would just let the pasta cool before tossing with the other ingredients. You may need to rinse it a bit with cold water if the noodles are sticking.
Pam