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tagliatelle pasta with zucchini, bell pepper and feta on a white plate
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Tagliatelle with zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes and feta cheese

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Author: Aleksandra

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons frying oil
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 3 large cloves garlic or 5 small cloves garlic
  • 1 heaped teaspoon French or Italian seasoning
  • pinch of chili flakes optional, can be omitted
  • 3 medium tomatoes or 1/2-1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 3.5 oz (100g) feta cheese
  • 5.3 oz (150g) pasta egg tagliatelle or fusilli
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • to finish: fresh herbes basil or thyme

Instructions

  • In a medium pot, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente (it should have a bite to it, you don‘t need a lot of water, it must be well salted, don‘t add any olive oil to it). Reserve about 1/3 cup of pasta cooking water (it has a lot of starch and thickens the sauce nicely).
  • While the pasta cooks, prepare the vegetables: cut the zucchini in half longwise and then cut crosswise into ¼ inch / ½ cm slices, cut the bell pepper into ¼ inch / ½ cm strips. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and pell them. Cut 2 tomatoes into cubes (about ¾ inch / 1.5 cm thick) and chop 1 tomato very finely. Chop the garlic very finely.
  • Heat the oil in a big pan over high heat, add the bell pepper and zucchini. Cook without stirring for 2 minutes (you have to give the vegetables time to brown), then cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes.
  • Add the garlic, French or Italian seasoning, chili flakes if using, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  • Add the chopped tomatoes and pasta cooking water (if using canned tomatoes there's no need to add pasta cooking water). Cook for about 3 minutes or until thickened (some of the tomatoes should stay in pieces, and some should create a sauce).
  • Remove the pan from the heat, crumble the feta cheese over the sauce, and add cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper (but carefully, the feta is already salty) and toss everything together.
  • Serve sprinkled with fresh herbs (optional).
  • Enjoy!

Notes

  • When using whole canned tomatoes, instead of crushed canned tomatoes, you need to cut them into cubes first. How much to add - 1/2 of a 14 oz/400ml can or 1 whole can if you like more sauce. I'm usually adding 1 whole can to not have any leftovers - add more feta cheese since there's more sauce.
  • To double the recipe, you need to cook the bell peppers and zucchini separately, don’t overcrowd the pan, so that the vegetables can brown nicely, this gives them a lot of flavor.  First cook the bell peppers alone for about 3 minutes, transfer to a plate, then add the zucchini and cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, chilli, herbs, cook for another minute, add the bell peppers back to the pan, then follow the recipe as written. Don‘t stir the vegetables too often so that they have a chance to brown. The provided times are only an estimate, it can take longer os shorter depending on your pan and stove.
  • Calories count: 1/2 of the recipe (1 serving). This is only an estimate!

Nutrition

Calories: 527kcal