Feta and Tomato Spaghetti

A lot of the times, my recipes stem from little sidetracks of inspirations.  It could be from an advertisement, a magazine cover, overhearing something that my family is watching on the television (you have to nail me down with something tasty and sweet for me to watch on my own free will) or like this one, just from the mere suggestion of a key ingredient.  And that would be the feta.  I had never heard of putting feta cheese in a hot pasta dish.  Don't get me wrong now, I love feta, but have only really had it in or alongside a Greek dish like a Greek Salad.  I love how some Greek restaurants place it along with some Greek olives as a garnish on their plates.  Give me a little drizzle of some Italian or Greek dressing on it and I am in heaven.  But, to put it in a pasta dinner, this was a first for me.  I had actually overheard the cashier at my local market (which I am a faithful shopper of) mention that she saw a recipe somewhere about doing just that, having pasta with feta cheese in it.  So, then I was interested.  Well, to put it bluntly, I was way more than interested, I could not get out of that dang store fast enough to get back to my kitchen table, to my lab top that is, and google up some recipe examples.  And that is just what I did.  For over an hour.  Then I looked at what ingredients that I had on hand here and went to town.  And this my friends, is where it lead.  To this amazingly different, and more than delicious dish.

5 T. of extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of grape tomatoes (sliced in half)
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
dash of crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 T. of fresh basil (chopped)
2 T. of fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley (chopped)
1/4 cup of white wine  (the closest I had was white zinfandel and it was great in it surprisingly)
1 cup of chicken stock
1 lb. of spaghetti pasta (uncooked)
1 small tub of crumbled feta cheese

-Heat up your e.v.o. in a large deep saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once it is good and hot (you will smell the e.v.o. when it is), toss in your tomatoes with a healthy amount of salt, pepper and red pepper.  Saute for about a minute (while constantly stirring), then add in you garlic and fresh herbs.  Once you can smell the garlic (about 20-30 seconds or so) pour in the wine, stir in and scrap with your wooden spoon then add in your chicken stock.  Bring this to a good boil for and hold it for a couple minutes, then reduce the heat some and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, for your spaghetti, have a large stockpot of water heated to a rapid boil.  Add in about 1 T. of e.v.o., a dash of salt (this will flavor your pasta and keep it from sticking together), toss in your pasta and boil it for about 9-10 minutes for Au Dente.  Strain the pasta and fold it right into your simmering sauce along with the feta cheese.  Serves 4.  Enjoy!