Penne With Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Green Beans and Feta
Updated January 29, 2023
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
6 to 8 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed, strings removed if necessary, and broken in half if very long
2 cups chopped fresh ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 plump garlic clove, minced (more to taste)
Salt (I like to use a very good coarse sea salt or fleur de sel for this)
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
2 tablespoons slivered basil
2 ounces crumbled feta (about ½ cup)
¾ pound pasta (penne or fusilli are good choices)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
72 grams carbs; 17 milligrams cholesterol; 458 calories; 6 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 12 grams fat; 5 grams fiber; 555 milligrams sodium; 15 grams protein; 6 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl, and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes (or longer).
- Step 2
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Add the green beans to the boiling water, and boil four to five minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them. Remove with a strainer or skimmer, and transfer to the ice water. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then drain and set aside.
- Step 3
Bring the water back to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, about eight minutes. When the pasta is ready, drop the green beans back into the water to heat, then drain the pasta and beans and toss at once with the tomato mixture and the feta. Serve hot or room temperature.
Advance preparation: The sauce can be assembled several hours ahead. If you want the basil to maintain its vivid color, leave it out until just before serving.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.
Private Notes
Comments
I really like this recipe because of the vegetables. I actually substituted broccolini for the green beans. Unless one uses haricots verts the other beans are not very appealing. I feel that pasta needs to be and stay quite hot so I keep the pasta/broccolini as hot as long as possible before adding the tomatoes.
Delicious. I added an extra T of Balsamic and substituted small buffalo mozzarella in place of feta. Excellent flavors.
This is marvelous. Some modifications: more garlic, more feta (2.5 x), more tomatoes, some Aleppo pepper. We'll make this again.
This recipe was easy, refreshing and delicious; will definitely make again! I agree with other comments that the balsamic vinegar should be 1T in the marinade and not “1tsp optional.” For that matter, the marinade should then be increased to 1.5x or 2x to allow the beans and the pasta to soak up the flavor.
made this with some roasted green asparagus instead of the beans, and doubled the amount of feta. nice and simple summer dinner!
So delicious, somehow much more than the sum of its parts. Great with Violife vegan feta. Used more green beans than called for, and added them in with the pasta five minutes before it was finished cooking- not sure why one would go to the trouble of cooking them first...