Tomato & Goat Cheese Orecchiette with Wilted Greens
A pasta this simple and healthy shouldn’t taste so good…but it does! The secret is definitely in the crispy garlic-infused olive oil and summer-fresh ingredients. Don’t waste anymore time staring at the picture. Just make it!
- 12 oz. (approx. 3.5 c.) orecchiette pasta, uncooked
- 14-16 c. water
- 4.5 tsp. kosher salt, divided
- 1/3 c. pine nuts
- 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- 4 c. approx. 16-20 oz. miniature heirloom, sun gold, or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
- 1/3 c. chopped fresh basil
- 4 oz. crumbled goat cheese
- 3 oz. fresh baby spinach or arugula leaves
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Bring water to a boil in a 6-8 qt. pot. Add 3 teaspoons kosher salt and the pasta to the boiling water. Give everything a quick stir and let the pasta cook over medium-high heat until al dente, typically about 10-12 minutes. See TIP A for some common pasta cooking mistakes to avoid.
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Place the pine nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat and stir constantly until they become fragrant and golden (about 2-3 minutes). Once toasted, immediately remove the nuts from the pan and set aside.
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In the same small skillet that you used to toast the pine nuts, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it easily moves around the pan and starts to ripple. Add the thinly sliced garlic (oil should sizzle) and stir constantly until the garlic turns slightly golden and crispy. Immediately transfer the garlic chips from the pan to a clean paper towel using a slotted spoon. Set both the garlic and olive oil aside off the heat.
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In a large bowl, combine the pasta, halved tomatoes, warm olive oil, remaining 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Then gently toss in the toasted pine nuts, garlic chips, chopped basil, crumbled goat cheese, and baby spinach or arugula leaves. Serve at room temperature.
TIP A: Cooking pasta is about as easy as it gets, but there are a few common mistakes that you want to be sure to avoid. The first mistake to avoid is using too little water. You want at least a 4:1 ratio of water to pasta so that the water does not become too starchy. An adequate water to pasta ratio prevents the pasta from turning gummy and sticky and helps the water maintain a rolling boil throughout the cooking process. The second mistake to avoid is under-salting the water (or not salting it at all). The boiling stage is your only opportunity to season the pasta itself and bring out its natural, nutty flavor. Salting the water is the best way to achieve this, and you'll likely need to add much more salt than you think. You should use 1 tsp. of salt for every 1 cup of pasta and 4 cups of water. In the end, you want the pasta water to taste like the ocean. The final mistake to avoid is rinsing the pasta after it has cooked. Rinsing the pasta removes the starch from the outside of the pasta, and you actually want some starch to remain to help soak-up and thicken the sauce.