Updated 10.01.25
The sauce comes together in the time it takes the pasta to cook: goat cheese loosened with olive oil and pasta water into something glossy and pourable. The casarecce goes straight from the pot into the sauce, bringing just enough starchy water with it to keep everything moving. Arugula, roughly chopped and added raw, wilts on contact with the warm pasta, softening just enough to lose its bite while keeping its peppery flavor. Pecans scattered on top add a crunch that the creamy sauce needs.
Two servings, one pan for the sauce, one pot for the pasta — and a technique that is genuinely worth the ten minutes it takes to understand. The goat cheese and olive oil method works with any pasta shape, but this is the version to make first.
This particular recipe is an adapted version from Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. He uses olive oil with goat cheese instead of pasta water to create a smoother sauce and I have to say, it works perfectly.
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Key Ingredients in This Recipe
You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.
- Pasta – I used is Casarecce pasta, also called Caserecce or Strozzapreti. A rolled and twisted pasta that easily slides in your mouth.
- Goat cheese
- Arugula
- Pecans
Where do you get your recipes from? How many magazines fall in your mailbox every month or do you do all your research online? I personally love to go through cookbooks and cooking magazines. I used to subscribe to so many, that keeping track of the recipes became a job in itself and I recently cut back on some of them. I also love going to bookstores. There is something about books, holding books, smelling books; that you will never get from books on a tablet.
How to Make Casarecce with Arugula & Goat Cheese
- Step 1 – Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packaging or to your desired degree of al dente.
Step 2 – While the pasta is cooking, make your sauce. Combine goat cheese, olive oil and salt and pepper and mix until smooth.
Step 3 – Chop the arugula just a little bit and chop the pecan fine.
Step 4 – Drain the pasta and keep 1/3 cup of cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot, add the arugula, the goat cheese mixture and the pasta water and mix until the sauce clings to the pasta and a the arugula starts to welt. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Divide the pasta over 2 plates or bowls and sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
Other Recipes with Goat Cheese to Try
Casarecce with Arugula & Goat Cheese
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
- 4 ounces pasta
- 2 ounces goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 ounces arugula
- 2 tablespoons pecans
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packaging or to your desired degree of al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, make your sauce. Combine goat cheese, olive oil and salt and pepper and mix until smooth.
- Chop the arugula just a little bit and chop the pecan fine.
- Drain the pasta and keep 1/3 cup of cooking water.
- Return the pasta to the pot, add the arugula, the goat cheese mixture and the pasta water and mix until the sauce clings to the pasta and a the arugula starts to welt. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the pasta over 2 plates or bowls and sprinkle with the chopped pecans
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.