Baked feta pasta
Baked feta pasta is a simple and delicious pasta thats made by roasting cherry tomatoes and feta to give you a soft, creamy sauce thats then stirred through pasta. Originally a TIKTOK craze that went viral around the world causing stores to run out of feta. Here’s everything you need to know about baked feta pasta!
So I know what your thinking, why am I sharing this recipe now? I’m like 4 years too late right?
Truth is even though this TIKTOK craze may have now been taken over by a family choreographed chicken dance, I still love this pasta! I love it for 3 reasons:
1/ I have a feta obsession! (Just ask my husband) My love of feta started back in 2011 when we spent time in glorious Santorini and Mykonos. The closest thing I found to Greece’s amazing quality of feta was Dodoni. I am pleased to say my love of feta is still going strong.
2/ I put my own spin on it; The only thing better than roasted feta and tomato is roasted feta with tomato and capsicum. You can of course stick to the original and leave the capsicum out but the wonderful aromas that will fill your kitchen as this trio roasts away is A-Mazing!
3/ Its simple to prepare and the kids love it too which makes it a fabulous weeknight dinner. Enough said.
If you love easy weeknight dinners then you should also check out this creamy spinach and ricotta pasta It’s the bomb and ready in just 15 minutes.
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Baked feta pasta
So how did this dish become a TIKTOK CRAZE?
It all started back in 2018 after a food blogger from Finland (Tiiu Piret) posted a version of it on her blog. A year later another blogger (Jenni hayrides) posted her uunifetapasta which translates to oven baked feta pasta which also went viral in Finland causing the stores to run out of feta cheese.
Subsequently the blogger behind Grilled cheese social (MacKenzie Smith) posted a video of the recipe to her TIKTOK account and that got over 3 million views.
overall the hashtag #bakedfetapasta has gained over 50 million views to date. Pretty cool!
Making this pasta is essentially throwing in cherry tomatoes (and capsicum if your following my recipe) in an oven dish with olive oil and then placing a block of feta cheese in the middle. It’s then placed in the oven until the tomatoes are bursting and the feta has softened and turned slightly golden.
At this point you can easily stir it to make a creamy sauce. Add in fresh basil and garlic and give it another good stir and your sauce is ready.
Baked feta pasta is such a simple dish and only requires a handful of ingredients yet Its full of flavour. I would describe it as a mixture of sweet from the tomatoes and creamy and salty from the feta. When it all comes together It just works perfectly.
There are many different versions of this pasta, some use olives, some add lemon zest or chilli flakes sprinkled over the feta. The beauty of a recipe like this is It’s a great base and you can easily make it your own.
What you will need
Cherry tomatoes; Any variety of cherry tomatoes will work for this recipe.
RED CAPSICUM (OPTIONAL) This is what I add in for my take on the baked feta pasta. I love the flavour and the wonderful smell of roasted capsicum.
Block feta cheese; As I mentioned above, I love using Dodoni feta but any Greek feta works really well because it’s made from sheets milk and has a much creamer texture than other varieties of feta.
Extra virgin olive oil
Dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garlic
Fresh basil
Dried pasta of your choice
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Tips for making the best baked feta pasta
Ever wonder how the restaurants always get beautifully silky pasta? The trick is to reserve some of the cooking water. Add a splash of the cooking water as your stirring the pasta through the sauce and this will give you a wonderful silky pasta.
You can use any pasta variety for this recipe. I’ve used orecchiette which translates to little ears.
Cherry tomatoes work best for their sweetness but you can substitute for Roma tomatoes. Just cut them into bite size pieces.
The pasta is best served immediately but can be kept in the fridge for up to three days. For best results heat in a frying pan with a splash of water until It’s nice and hot.
How to make baked feta pasta
Place feta in the centre of a small to medium size dish like this one. Arrange the tomatoes and capsicum around the feta. You want everything to fit in really snug. Leaving too much space around the tomato’s will cause them to dry up and we want them juicy and blistering.
Drizzle generously with olive oil.
Sprinkle oregano over the feta and season the tomatoes and capsicum with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt because the feta is quite salty.
Bake for 30 minutes or until feta starts to go golden. Don’t be alarmed if your feta doesn’t go a deep golden colour especially if your not using a Greek feta which wont have the same fat content. You know It’s ready when the feta is soft enough to easily stir into the tomatoes to make a creamy sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water according to packet instructions.
Remove from oven. Add crushed garlic (check out this awesome garlic crusher) and basil leaves. Using a fork, gently crush the tomatoes and capsicum. Stir together to make a creamy sauce.
Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water for later.
Add the pasta to the oven dish. Toss to combine. Add some of the pasta water to loosen and give the pasta a shine. Scatter over basil leaves to serve.
That’s it! I love how easy this pasta is! No cooking skills are required in fact it’s so easy that with supervision my 9 year old can make this. So why not add this to your weeknight meal plan and get the kids involved.
Why not have some fun and create a TikTok video of the family preparing it. Dont forget to tag me in as well @mrsfoodiemumma.
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Tools to make the job easier
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Baked feta pasta
Ingredients
- 200 g block feta cheese I use Dodoni
- 2 punnets cherry tomatoes
- 1 red capsicum Seeded and cut into 3cm chunks
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 250 g dried pasta of your choice
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- Small bunch fresh basil leaves picked, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced.
- Place feta in centre of a medium baking dish. Arrange tomatoes and capsicum around the feta. Drizzle with oil, then sprinkle with oregano and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until feta softens and starts to go golden.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta according to packet instructions. Drain; reserving some of the cooking water for later.
- Remove feta dish from oven. Add crushed garlic and basil leaves. Using a fork, crush feta and tomatoes. Add drained pasta to tray and toss to combine. Add a splash of the reserved cooking water to loosen the sauce. Scatter over basil leaves and serve.
