If you’re in the need of a super quick and easy side dish, this might be the one for you.
I wanted something really fast and easy tonight so I turned to my pantry. I had some pasta, some tomato paste, and I knew I had some feta in the fridge. Easy. I’ll just mix up a batch of my (not) sun dried tomato sauce, toss some pasta in it, crumble on a little feta for extra oomph, and I’ll be good to go!
I halved the olive oil from the original (not) sun dried tomato sauce, which helped it stick to the pasta better. If you have some fresh herbs (parsley or basil), add it in for color and a pop of freshness. If you need something a little more hearty, try adding in some sauteed and sliced Italian sausage links. Pair this with some garlic bread and maybe some roasted broccoli and you’ve got a nice, light dinner!
Tangy Tomato Pasta
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Tangy Tomato Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 8 oz. thin spaghetti ($0.97)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil ($0.36)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme ($0.02)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.26)
- 1/2 tsp honey ($0.02)
- 3 oz. feta cheese ($1.31)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over a high flame.
- While waiting for the water to boil, begin the tomato sauce in a separate skillet. Mince a clove of garlic and combine it with the olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, rosemary, thyme, crushed red pepper, and cracked black pepper. Heat over a medium flame. Stir the mixture and allow it to start sizzling. Stir and sizzle for about one minute.
- Add the tomato paste, turn the heat down to medium-low, and continue to cook and stir until the mixture turns a darker shade of red (about 2 minutes more). Turn off the heat and then stir in the honey.
- When the water begins to boil hard, add the spaghetti. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until tender. Once the pasta is tender, drain briefly and then add it to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Stir to coat. (Reserve about 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water to add back into the pasta if it becomes dry while mixing with the tomato sauce).
- Crumble about 2 ounces of feta cheese into the skillet and stir to combine. Divide the pasta onto individual plates and crumble about a 1/4 ounce more of feta over top of each serving. Enjoy!
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Begin to boil a large pot of water for the pasta. In the meantime, begin the sauce. Mince a clove of garlic and combine it in a skillet with the rest of the herbs and spices (oregano, basil, salt, thyme, rosemary, crushed red pepper, and cracked black pepper). Stir and heat that mixture over a medium flame. Let it come up to a sizzle and then continue stirring for about one minute.
Next add the tomato paste (half of a little 6 oz. can) and stir into the oil herb mixture. Turn the heat down slightly so that it doesn’t burn and continue to cook and stir until the tomato paste turns from a bright red to this darker shade of burgundy. Turn the heat off and then stir in the honey.
By this time the water is probably boiling and you can add the pasta. Cook the pasta for 7-10 minutes or until tender.
Save some of the starchy pasta cooking water in case the pasta gets dry while you’re mixing it all together.
Briefly drain the cooked pasta and add it to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Stir to coat. If it gets dry or sticky, add a touch of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up. Just a touch.
Crumble about 2 ounces of feta over top and stir it in. Use the rest of the feta to sprinkle over the top of each serving.
Simple, fast, easy.
I wonder what a splash of wine would do to this tomato sauce… Mmmmm.
This was super easy and delicious. I ended up adding the whole 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. I served with roasted carrots to get 4 meals out of it.
A go-to in our household. We substitute goat’s cheese for Feta. Absolutely delicious, always!
I plan to make this tonight! About how many tablespoons is 3 oz of tomato paste? Thanks!
Hi Aly! It’s about six ounces. Have fun!
I only have 3 Tbsp of frozen tomato paste left. Would that not be enough? Do you think it’d be okay to substitute marinara sauce for the rest?
I ended up using the rest of my 3 Tbsp of tomato paste and 3 Tbsp of some frozen marinara sauce on hand… outstanding dinner! My husband and I both loved it — even my 6 yr old picky eater!
This recipe is SO EASY, SO QUICK, SO SATISFYING (on a cold, snowy night in Canada) and SO CHEAP, you’ll have the time and money to buy some red wine to go with it!! It was literally a desperation meal, as I didn’t have time to get to the grocery before the storm, and still came together with stuff from my freezer (tomato paste) and dried goods! Awesome ending to cinderella supper story :)
Oh this makes me so happy Catherine!
Easy, fool – proof, and tangy!
I make this at least once a month but never bothered to comment until now. I’ll often make without the feta because that’s the only ingredient in this dish that I don’t regularly have on hand. Regardless, it tastes amazing and it makes for a delicious quick dinner for a college student.
I love light dinners and this is perfect! It’s so easy to throw together and feta cheese adds the perfect amount of saltiness. I made mine with angel hair spaghetti and it was delicious!
This recipe is simple fantastic!!! thank you sooo much for sharing it!
I wanted to use up some left over vegetables so I sauteed half an aubergine, half a zucchini, 7-8 large brown mushrooms, and some frozen sweet corn in some olive oil with oregano and salt and let it cook with some water till the sauce was ready.
And once the sauce was ready added the veggies in it, mixed it all up and then added the pasta and some of the pasta cooking water as per your suggestion.
It turned out so very well. It was all gone in under 5 min :)
Can you use mozzarella instead of feta cheese?
I don’t think that would work quite the same, unfortunately.
This pasta, with goat cheese, is EVERYTHING.
I’m not a fan of feta cheese (or any crumbly cheese for that matter). Would this be okay minus the feta, or do you know another non crumbly cheese solution? :)
This tomato sauce is pretty good on its own, but just be aware that it’s not a super thick saucy-sauce like traditional red sauce. It will coat the pasta more like the dressing from a pasta salad. Cheese is just about always good on pasta, so I’m sure if you added any other cheese it wouldn’t be *bad*. ;)
I really enjoyed this. Thank you for the recipe!
I love love love this dish. I honestly did not think that I was going to like it as much as I did but it is amazing!!
It looked so simple and easy, I never thought it would pack so much flavour. Added a little bit of maple syrup to replace the honey I didn’t have, and some sambal oelek for more heat. It was delicious with the feta and it cost almost nothing. Thanks!
This is one of my favorite recipes on this site. I make it all the time. Thank you!
i found out about your website a couple of days ago from The Kitchn. I just made the recipe above and boy was it good. Tomorrow I will be making your baked blueberry oatmeal recipe for breakfast :)
This sounds good and I’m trying it right now, but I’m thinking there must be a mistake, because the ingredients list says 6 oz of spaghetti – not enough I would say to make 4 servings? Right?
Yeah, that must have been a typo. :P 8 oz. for four 2 oz. side dish sized servings.
Made this tonight for a “second” dinner to use up the leftover tomato paste I had from making jambalaya. So, so, so good.
Love all of your recipes!!
I also made this with chevre (goat) cheese last night. It was great! I didn’t have oregano, so I used parsley. My husband loved it and asked that this dish be put into the rotation of regular meals. Thanks!!
made this last night with goat cheese instead of feta. very good! The goat cheese made it like a tangy, creamy tomato sauce. Will try with feta another time though. thanks for posting!
This was exactly what I was craving tonight! We added spicy Italian sausage and extra red chili flakes. So easy and delicious!
I made this last night!!! I loved it so much :) Thank you so much for providing budget meals, I added this and other recipes I have tried on my Blog. I added a link on the posts to bring my readers to you! Thanks again :)
I made this with steamed kale and goat cheese instead of feta- DELICIOUS!
Just made this and it was delicious. Although I burned the garlic and probably overcooked the tomatoes, I just added more honey than the recipe called for. It was still yummy and tasted like sundried tomato pesto although cost much much less! Thanks!
It looks wonderful on photos! Good recipe.
This is delicious! Love your blog, thanks for sharing your ideas and recipes.
YUUUUUMYYYY !!! Looks tasty and easy. I love that you give us the recipe, quantities and costs – it makes your blog special. Thanks!
Yum – just made this for dinner and added some chicken in with it. So tasty and such an easy meal to make!
It looks so easy and I bet it tastes great! I’m looking forward to trying it!
My happiness at having found your blog is tempered only by disdain at not having encountered it YEARS ago!!!!!!
Pasta, pasta, pasta! I love simple recipes like this that require almost no ingredients or effort, and yet somehow turn into an amazing feast. :)
I just made this and it was amazing and so easy! This is going into the regular rotation for sure.
Caroline – Yes, fresh herbs would be amazing. You’ll want to use more than a 1/2 tsp, though, because they’re bulkier. You don’t even really need to measure, just throw in a small handful of whatever you have on hand :)
I’ve been making this style of pasta sauce for years. A splash of balsamic vinegar is often a nice addition. Wine works, but I like the balsamic better. I also like to add crushed up nuts of various kinds, sliced olives, all kinds of things really. And yes, fresh herbs work fine, that’s what I usually use. I’d up amounts slightly depending on what kind of herbs you are using, myself.
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Yum!!!! This looks amazing! Do you think it could be made with all fresh herbs instead of dried? Would the ratios be the same?? YUM! Can’t wait to make this!