One of my favourite pasta shapes of late, are shells, or “kohilia” in Greek.
This shape of pasta is great for trapping the sauce and cheese inside the shell, making for a very falvourful meal.
This is one of the quickest sauces you’ll ever come across but I remind you that this dish only works with fresh, very tomatoes. Don’t even bother in the winter time.
Greeks will often serve a pasta plain with just some brown butter and feta. Here, feta gets paired with a light tomato sauce.
This dish is about using good quality ingredients:
Greek feta cheese. Any other cheese resembling it and made outside of Greece is a pretender. Feta is a PDO protected name.
Ripe tomatoes. The kind that you can eat all by themselves.
Fresh herbs. Here’s one of the many herbs that flourish in my garden. Boy do I love basil!
There you have it. It may be a cliche but it still rings true…seek out and demand quality ingredients and you won’t struggle or try and get too smart when cooking up a recipe.
Quality ingredients are your sous-chef, need I same more?
Pasta Shells With Fresh Tomatoes & Feta
(for 4)
500gr. pkge of pasta shells
2 cups of crumbled feta
4 medium tomatoes, concasse & diced
2 cups of fresh basil, chiffonade
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
- Place a large pot of water on your stovetop and when it comes to a boil, add salt and boil your pasta as per package instructions.
- In a large skillet, add your olive oil and garlic over medium heat. As soon as the the garlic starts to sizzle and the aroma of garlic hits your nose, add the diced tomatoes and simmer for a couple of minutes and take off the heat.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and reserve.
- As soon as your pasta is ready, strain and add it to your tomato sauce along with the chopped basil and about 1/2 a cup of crumbled feta.
- Toss thoroughly to dress the pasta with the sauce and then plate.
- Finish each plate with a topping of crumbled feta and some fresh black pepper and serve immediately.
57 Responses
Yummy Yum O! LOL
I doooo LOVE Feta and I ONLY buy Feta that’s made in Greece (so do I pass the test)?
Only this very eve I have once again, made your Htipiti dippy dip!
Great pics and I love your herb pic!
Lots of phony feta here in USA. Last time I caved in and got some made w cows milk
Feta can come from everywhere. This great Armenian store in Watertown MA has it from all over. Last time including Bulgaria and France
I didn’t know that about the feta. I will be a more vigilant label reader in the future!
This is beautiful! You taught me about Feta, and I like it! (Well, to be fair, I do like cheese) My new milkman has goat cheese Feta that he makes; I just got some yesterday. Maybe I’ll try this with my new Feta tonight; thanks for the suggestion, Peter!
this is my favorite food combination!!!! thanks you for helping me decide what to make for dinner tonight! (once again….LOL!)
You are so right about the freshest ingredients, they can make all the difference in a dish like this
Not only is this a wonderful pasta post with an exquisite recipe but full of very good advice regarding fresh ingredients. Well said Peter and good job promoting the true Greek feta.
Very nice!
I am going to the farmers market in the morning, I will be sure to pick up some Feta, tomatoes and basil.
I love this dish!
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful and incredibly scrumptious! A gorgeous combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Yikes! As soon as I read this, I checked my feta and now I now consider these white chunks in my fridge as impostors! Although the label is a Greek name, nowhere does it say that it’s a product from Greece. That’s my something new for the day. Love your pasta; I enjoy this lovely dish often. Sometimes I’ll sneak in an olive or two or three or four … :-)
I am honestly and truly making this for dinner, with my humble fake feta, but don’t hold it against me, since I’m only a neighboring Italian and not a true Greek anyway.:)
The herbs look beautiful. Great pasta dish.
hi peter,
your pasta looks delicious! i can only imagine how good the juicy ripe tomatoes and salty feta would be. your basil plant is impressive. every herb i’ve ever tried to grow have all died!
It looks fantastic, no doubt this would taste fantastic. There is a Greek-owned restaurant in Salt Lake that serves that spaghetti with browned butter and feta and calls it Greek Spaghetti.
My Costco just started carrying a brand of feta from Greece called Dodoni. On the label it says #1 selling brand in Greece. Have you tried that? I just bought some for the first time and haven’t tried it yet.
I really need to learn the different shapes of pasta, and what kind of sauce each one is the best for.
Peter look absolutely yummy I love cheese and pasta!! hey I made a dish with tomatoes too! Did you read my mind??? Im kidding you!! xxxGloria
ohh this looks delicious! i love tomatoes and feta together. and that little sprig of basil looks just perfect in the picture!
Ηello from Greece!!!!!!!!!
Good job Peter…..
Οι συνταγÎÏ‚ σου είναι ο καθÏÎφτης της πατÏίδας μας………..
Σε ευχαÏιστοÏμε που φÎÏνεις την Ελλαδα μας και τα φαγητά της πιο κοντά στον υπόλοιπο κόσμο…
ΧαιÏετίσματα πολλά απο τον ΕβÏο και καλή συνÎχεια σε ότι κάνεις..
there is a certain joy when a meal can be so simple and yet so tasty
This reminds me that I haven’t yet made your Greek garden pesto. Must get onto that!
quick and simple….I am all over it!
I’ve been unable to find fresh feta since I moved. Looks like I’m going to have to pick up the pace on my search because this looks fantastic!
Great dish Peter. To Kalyn’s question, yes Dodoni is one of the best feta you can get in Greece (but it’s also the most expensive), not that Fage feta is not equally good. However, we are lucky enough to get some feta from the villages which does not compare to any of the store bought ones.
Lovely stuff, Peter!
Even this Wisconsin girl is a sucker for some good feta (made in Greece)! Don’t tell!
Oh Yum! I just don’t think this could look any better. And it sounds delicious too.
A simple pasta dish full of familiar flavours, I make something similar myself, and we love ‘kochilia’ over here! :)
Pasta dishes like this one are a staple at my house, except I use mozzarella instead of feta. ;)
There is no substitute for excellent ingredients, is there? This looks so fresh and delicious!
Couldn’t agree more Peter.
And I like how you are never stingy with the Feta either!
Anything with Feta is a winner. This really looks great all the color and the veggies YUM what a great combo!!
Thanks for the FETA 101 class as well – Very good info
A very fresh and delicious looking pasta, Peter! Love that shape, too.
seek out and demand quality ingredients and you won’t struggle or try and get too smart when cooking up a recipe.
That is the biggest cooking lesson I learned all year. Invaluable.
Your shells look magnificent!
I can’t believe how much basil you have. We have a lot, but I don’t think we have that much.
Have a good weekend!
I’m slightly embarrassed now, because all this time we’ve been using Canadian-made feta. You’ve inspired me to seek out Greek feta: a shopping trip is in order.
Great pasta dish, greetings from Italy
Had it for dinner on Friday night-AMAZING and easy and so delicious-even with humble fake domestic feta. Forgive me.
That looks delicious, especially with all of that fresh feta. I’m guessing that really good, fresh feta is something that makes a dish like this leaps and bounds better than regular old store-bought stuff, right?
Jan, you're a good shopper and the only feta is the Greek one.
Joey, lots of wannabe feta here in Canada too.
Disorder cook, go with the Greek stuff, it's only slightly more expensive and tastier.
Marjie, you will love how tasty and simple this dish is…a time saver.
Susan, you're very welcome!
Kat, fresh & seasonal – can't go wrong.
Pete, the Greek stuff is superior…we've been making it for centuries.
Ohiomom…let us know how it turned out.
Thanks & cheers Rosa!
Paula, there are some Greek ex-pats making feta.
Prudy, try the Greek stuff…would the pretend Pargiano hold up to the American version? I thought so.
Lisa, I love my herb garden.
Susan, I hope you have better luck next season.
Kalyn, that's a Greek classic and to answer your question on Dodoni, yes it's the largest producer, most popular and a very good feta…enjoy!
Pam, the Italian pasta maker's websites can shed some light on this.
Gloria, we just think alike!
Heather, now I have to bring my herbs indoors.
Manolia, thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. I love Greek food and sharing it.
Kiwi, exactly…one of the beauties of our cuisine.
Foodycat…STAT!
Leslie…git on it!
Michele, I'm sure you'll find it as it's more popular and more readily available.
Ivy, you're blessed with an infinite array of feta.
Lo, atta'girl..Greek feta!
Lisa, it's as tasty as it looks.
Sam, any more of those garden tomatoes left?
Sticky, I love many cheeses.
Lori Lynn, if you're gonna use an ingredient…use it, no?
Cathy, you're welcome…you get a gold star!
Elly, as imple, comforting dish.
Melissa, good…you're half-way there.
Emi, that's one of many basil plants! lol
JS, Minerva foods is your place for Greek product.
Gunther, grazie!
Prudy, I'm delighted…I hope you post it!
Lori, buy some Greek feta and compare & taste-test the two.
THat’s so true. With top-notch fresh ingredients, everything just works better. Same with pizza – no proper buffalo mozzarella – no deal! I had some organic Greek feta in a salad tonight and it was one of the tangiest I’ve tasted. Do you get various degrees of tanigness in Greece? Looks like a shole deli counter made up of feta in your pic!
I love this, I am a pasta girl.
As to feta – what are your thoughts re sheep vs. goat milk?
What a delightful pasta sensation made from the freshest ingredients :D
Hola Chico! Back in the track!!!
A fantastic pasta dish like this is always welcome to my table… you get the cheese, I get the rest ;D.
Ripe tomatoes are the best and this time of year they taste superb. I guess I’m lucky we can get them all year long, but the flavour is not the same.
Perrea perrea Pedro!
Hi Peter, nomizv o basilikos sou thelei potisma! :-)
My produce market sells a domestic feta. Now I know.
This is just how I like my pasta. Simple yet bursting with flavours. Wonderful Peter!
Simple and yet really tasty!
I respect your choice of cheese for pasta! YES to feta cheese :) and only feta!
Great photography, Peter! and well presented dish! :)
Jeanne, the tangyness can vary, depending on the if it’s sheep or goat’s milk or the combination of both. Don’t be afraid to ask for a taste before buying.
Natashya, my tastes seem to gravitate to Feta that’s a mix of goat and sheep’s milk.
JS, don’t be…now you can give the Greek fetas a try.
Nuria, we have greenhouse tomatoes too but still no comparison to summer tomatoes.
Ateraki, akoma ligo neraki? lol
Thanks Lore.
Glamah, in Chicago, you should have no problem finding good feta.
Neona, thank you!
That is heaven on a plate. Sadly we are done with amazing tomatoes for this year.
Eureka!!! Been trying to make up my mind which of your recipes to start with since I discovered your site two days ago…just goes to show you this dish never gets old! Think I’m gonna go with feta parnasou.