Greek Pasta with Tomatoes, Squash, Feta and Oregano

Last Thursday night we were about to drive up to New Jersey for the weekend and I wanted to try to use up the rest of the week's CSA delivery for dinner, but didn't really have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen (I always seem to leave packing to the very last minute). I came across Katerina's Greek Island Pasta and it looked like the perfect way to use up the yellow squash sitting in the fridge along with some leftover feta and a little box of multicolored cherry tomatoes. Of course I forgot to print out the recipe so I just sort of made it up as I was cooking, using what I remembered from Katerina's as inspiration.

The whole dish came together in the time that it took to boil water and cook the pasta. I sliced up the yellow squash, halved the cherry tomatoes and chopped up the garlic while the water came to a boil. When the pasta went in, I sauteed the garlic and squash just for a few minutes then added the tomatoes and cooked the until the tomatoes had given off some juices to make a light sauce but the squash was still crisp. A little pasta water and some crumbled feta gave the sauce some texture and the fresh oregano I popped in at the last minute gave it a Greek flavor. A sprinkle of feta overtop and it was ready to go (and it did pretty well as leftovers too). An added bonus- this was a great way to use the tomatoes we had gotten from the CSA. Neither Zach nor I like raw tomatoes but this quick sauce cooked them just enough to pass the point from rawness to goodness so if you're not a fan of raw tomatoes either, you might want to try this.

Greek Style Pasta
Inspired by Katerina at Daily Unadventures in Cooking
Serves 4 for a light supper.

10 oz. short whole wheat pasta (rotini, farfale, penne)
2 t. olive oil
1 fat clove garlic, minced
1 small summer squash, cut in half and then in 1/8in. half moons
1 C. halved cherry tomatoes, or diced tomatoes
4 oz. feta cheese
10 fresh oregano leaves

- Put the pasta water on to boil while you prep the veggies.

- When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add the oil and garlic. Sauté for a minute than add squash and sauté until the squash just begins to turn translucent (about 3 minutes). Add tomatoes and increase the heat to medium high. Cook until tomatoes begin to disintegrate a bit.

- Reserve 1/2 c. pasta water before draining the pasta. Add about half of it to the veggies along with half the feta and stir to melt the feta and create a sauce. Add in the drained pasta and oregano and stir to coat, adding more pasta water if it looks dry. Season with pepper and salt (if needed). Crumble remaining feta over the plates of pasta and serve immediately.