Quick courgette and cherry tomato pasta with feta

Quick and easy, this delicious cherry tomato and courgette pasta can be ready in 15 minutes. Bursting with veg, and topped with tasty feta, its a fabulous family meal!

There seem to be days when time runs away from me, and suddenly it’s almost 6 o’clock and I have literally nothing – not even an idea – to show, dinner-wise. It’s days like these when I thank heaven for pasta, and knock up a quick vegetable sauce to go with it. Bam! On the table in 15 minutes…

Fast and tasty

Often, these last minute suppers aren’t really the sort of culinary masterpieces that I would share. The most basic version is pasta, pesto (from a jar) and some frozen peas. Add grated cheese if you’re feeling elaborate. But this cherry tomato and courgette pasta was really delicious, and super-simple to make – win-win! So I’m sharing it here in all its fast-and-tasty glory.

Ingredients for cherry tomato and courgette pasta

This was a bit of a fridge and cupboard raid, so none of the ingredients are particularly unusual. However they do all come together beautifully to make a really delicious pasta dish. To make this tomato and courgette (zucchini) pasta yourself, you will simply need:

• pasta – of course!
• courgettes – also called zucchini in the USA and some other places
• cherry tomatoes – or use baby plum tomatoes or any small tomatoes
• olive oil & butter – for frying/sauteing 
• garlic
• harissa – a spicy North African chilli paste that adds deliciousness to everything!
• feta cheese – crumbled, to sprinkle over the top

I used a food processor to quickly grate the courgettes, then they were speedily cooked while the pasta was boiling. The whole dinner was ready in about 15 minutes – the twinkling of an eye!

Help from harissa

My daughter Kipper, upon learning that one of the ingredients in this dish was harissa, made a big fuss about how it was “too spicy“. This despite having already eaten half of her portion of tomato and courgette pasta!

She went on to clear her plate, but made sure to point out that she was only eating it because, “I don’t want it to go to waste, Mummy.”

HA! That child has never eaten something she didn’t like in her life! It’s just as well that I trust her actions, rather than her words.

Mingling flavours

In actual fact, you can barely taste the harissa, but it does give a gentle sizzle of spice along with the garlic, and makes this courgette sauce so tasty. The feta cheese adds a salty tang which is the perfect foil to the buttery courgettes and sweet-sharp cherry tomatoes

I grated the courgettes in the food processor, so this really was a super-fast meal. If you had to grate them by hand, I suppose it would take a bit longer. 

I’m glad to have this in my arsenal of quick dinner ideas. It beats pasta and pesto hands down!

Serves 3.

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📖 Recipe

Quick courgette (zucchini) and cherry tomato pasta

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Quick and easy, this delicious cherry tomato and courgette pasta can be ready in 15 minutes. Bursting with veg, and topped with tasty feta, its a fabulous family meal!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine European, Italian, Vegetarian

Servings 3

Calories 547 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 180-200 g penne (or other short pasta)
• 3 large courgettes (approx. 750g or 26 oz.)
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• ¼-½ teaspoon harissa
• 100 g cherry tomatoes
• 75 g feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions

 

• Put the pasta to cook in a large pot of boiling water, as per the pack instructions. (Mine takes 11 minutes.)
• Meanwhile, wash and trim the courgettes and grate coarsely using a food processor.
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet or wok, and add the grated courgettes, crushed garlic and harissa. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5-6 minutes until softened.
• Halve the cherry tomatoes and add to the courgette mixture in the pan. Continue to cook for another minute, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat and keep warm.
• Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well and mix with the courgettes and tomatoes.
• Serve at once, with the crumbled feta sprinkled over.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Quick courgette (zucchini) and cherry tomato pasta

Amount per Serving

Calories

547

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

29

g

45

%

Saturated Fat

 

11

g

69

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Cholesterol

 

42

mg

14

%

Sodium

 

385

mg

17

%

Potassium

 

1085

mg

31

%

Carbohydrates

 

59

g

20

%

Fiber

 

5

g

21

%

Sugar

 

12

g

13

%

Protein

 

16

g

32

%

Vitamin A

 

1151

IU

23

%

Vitamin C

 

67

mg

81

%

Calcium

 

201

mg

20

%

Iron

 

3

mg

17

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword courgette, feta, pasta, tomato, zucchini

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More quick and tasty pasta dinners

Other deliciously quick dinners to enjoy include speedy beetroot pasta, asparagus carbonara with sun-dried tomatoes, and crunchy giant couscous salad with fresh herbs.