Backyard Pasta with Goat Cheese + Tomato Sauce

This Saturday was a special one. I got to come home at 6 o’clock….on a Saturday night…..& make dinner for my own damn self. Which has been a rarity & something that hasn’t happened since like the 1rst week of June. I mean what can I say - managing & working at a bar means being their on Saturdays. But the positive perspective - we’re in a good spot, in a position to have some help from some rad folks, and this particular weekend it meant being able to come home to my house for a Saturday datenight in, and it felt momentous.

I wanted to keep it simple + delicious + on theme for this whole meatless-September thing. Pasta sounded pretty dang good, our tomato plant is literally exploding, so all signs pointing to Backyard Pasta with Goat Cheese + Tomato Sauce. A great use for our home grown tomatoes + the perfect excuse to get some cheesy carbs back into my life.

Sploded tomatoes

Soooo let me tell you about “sploded tomatoes” - pronounced like you’re trying to say “exploded” with a slight accent & replacing the ex with a very prominent s-sound. My husband & I love to say sploded tomatoes & we love to eat them. Really they’re just tomatoes that are put in a hot skillet & cooked until they explode. The start out just round & ripe little tomatoes, & when they heat up they get juicy, the skins dissipate, and you get this chunky, organic tomato sauce. It’s like the freshest kind of tomato sauce you can ever have, & it’s real good. Thickened up with just a bit of cream (because I CANNOT resist a cream sauce), and you’re set.

That goat cheese tang

If I’m going to make pasta it MUST have one thing - a really good sauce. In my opinion, it’s like why you cook a pasta. As mentioned, I love love LOVE a good cream sauce, & this one is a little different because a large part of that creamy-ness comes from goat cheese. Tangy + sharp goat cheese. It gets melted in the sauce with the sploded tomatoes & creates this creamy, velvety sauce that is pretty damn delightful. Not overwhelmingly got-cheesy, but just the right amount to give it a little extra something. & also moderate enough that topping the plated pasta with a few extra crumbles of goat cheese is totally appropriate.

If it has beans, it backyard pasta

If you haven’t put beans in pasta, particularly white beans, you don’t know what you’re missing. Like that texture & salty little bean bite. Love it! I really like doing a pasta with sausage + onions + beans (it’s a perfect combo), but meatless September. Gotta get creative! & I also just feel like beans are on\e of those things always on hand, so if cleaning out the pantry is something you’re trying to do or just really load up your pasta, go for the canned beans!

I will say, beans in pasta just makes it feel “country-ish” in a cute + comforting kinda way, but calling it country style pasta just sounds too Paula Dean for me. So backyard pasta it is! It feels oddly summer-y & like a parta you should be digging into at your picnic table. Which is exactly what we did.

& saving the best for last - arugula. We never don’t add fresh arugula to pasta, so it just wouldn’t be an at-home pasta without it. The key - add the arugula at the last minute so it maintains a little bit of that crunch. That + a few crumbles of extra goat cheese. Perfection

For the pasta

• 3 tbsp EVOO

• 4-5 garlic cloves, smashed

• 1 can of white beans, drained & rinsed

• 2-3 c. baby tomatoes (cherry or grape)

• Salt + pepper

• 1/4 c. heavy cream

• 1/4 c. goat cheese + a little extra for sprinkling

• 1/2 lb of dried fusili

• 2 c. arugula

• pinch of red pepper (option if you like it a little spicy)

First, place a large pot of salted water over high heat (in prep for the pasta cook).

Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the olive oil + garlic, cooking until lightly toasted and fragrant. Add in the beans, cooking for 3 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, cover, and let cook for 12-15 minutes, swirling the pan every 5 minutes. You want the tomatoes to explode, and transform into this chunky sauce. Sprinkle with salt & pepper, mix, and reduce the heat to low. Stir in the cream, & keep the heat over low heat.

Add your pasta to the boiling water, cooking just to al dente. Transfer the pasta along with a 1/2 c. of the cooking liquid to the pan with the tomato sauce. Stir to coat the pasta & mix in the water, turning the heat back up to medium low. Add in the crumbled goat cheese, stirring until melted. Reduce the heat back to low & stir in the arugula.

Serve with another sprinkling of goat cheese + a light pinch of red pepper flakes right on top. Delightful!