Tiktok inspired viral feta cheese pasta! Creamy baked feta pasta with cherry tomatoes and basil that is so delicious and so easy to make. With just five main ingredients, this recipe is perfect for a delicious vegetarian meal.
I gave in to the social media pressure and thanks to Instagram Reels, I finally made the Tiktok viral pasta (UuniFetaPasta - source: yahoo) that apparently is responsible for shortage of feta cheese in Finland. I can imagine... because this pasta is actually that good. Plus its so easy and you only need five simple pantry ingredients -> four of them listed in the title itself (Feta Cheese, Pasta, Cherry Tomatoes & Basil) and in addition to that: olive oil.
Another great thing about this delicious pasta recipe is that it is absolutely fuss free. You need one pot to boil the pasta and just one dish to make the baked feta sauce - which means simply throwing in the cherry tomatoes, adding some olive oil and pepper, then placing an entire block of feta cheese in the middle. It gets cooked in the oven - the tomatoes get lightly charred and blistered, still so juicy and slightly sweet, totally balancing the natural tanginess. This recipe is a burst of flavors especially with that salty feta cheese and some additional cracked pepper - so yum!
How to make baked feta cheese pasta?
Start with the sauce -> to a large dish, add cherry tomatoes, olive oil and pepper. Mix well and place feta cheese block in the middle of the dish. Transfer to oven and let cook until tomatoes are blistered and charred. While this happens, cook your pasta (I used farfalle - adorable bowties, use whatever you have in hand). Now once the feta is nicely melted - also gets browned and lightly charred, still very soft and creamy, add basil, pasta and mix well.
At this point, you may wanna forget about the pasta and just dip some bread in this creamy feta, cherry tomato, basil mixture and call it a meal! Use the back of a spoon or a fork to press down the creamy baked block of feta. There's going to be some water released from the cooked cherry tomatoes, just enough for the pasta - or add some reserved pasta water (or may be some wine) to make it extra creamy and sauce-like. Finally, add the pasta and mix until very well coated.
Talking about flavor... this recipe for baked feta cheese pasta is very forgiving - I have tried this recipe multiple times with minor changes each time. I've added some crushed garlic to the hot-out-of-the-oven baked feta and it elevates the flavor balancing the sweetish tangy flavor of cherry or grape tomatoes with the salty feta cheese. In another trial, I also added some onion powder to the baked feta - YUM! Totally optional, but of course, highly recommended.
Talking about herbs... there's enough basil in this pasta, but I definitely enjoyed adding some freshly chopped basil while serving the pasta. Feel free to add some dried or fresh oregano or thyme to the baked feta before mixing pasta in it.
Protein/ Veggies... Add some corn, olives, jalapeños . This recipe is meatless (vegetarian) but you could also cook some chicken while the feta and tomatoes are being baked in the oven. Add it together to the sauce with the pasta and basil and enjoy.
More pasta recipes to try from the blog:
- 5-ingredient mascarpone cheese pasta
- date night tomato cream pasta
- penna vodka sauce
- creamy mushroom béchamel sauce pasta
- brown butter garlic pasta
- caramelized onion & blue cheese pasta
- spinach and mushroom cream sauce pasta
Baked Feta Cheese Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
Description
Tiktok inspired viral feta cheese pasta! Creamy baked feta pasta with cherry tomatoes and basil that is so delicious and so easy to make. With just five main ingredients, this recipe is perfect for a delicious vegetarian meal.
Ingredients
- 150 grams pasta (roughly 6 oz.)
- 200 grams block of feta cheese (7-8 oz.)
- 200 grams cherry or grape tomatoes (1 cup or 7 oz.)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (chopped)
- pepper
- 1 tsp garlic (minced/ crushed)
- 1 tbsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 400°F (205°C).
- Baked Feta Cherry Tomato Sauce -> To a large baking dish (9X13 inches), add cherry or grape tomatoes. Add (1 1/2) tbsp olive oil and pepper and toss well so that all tomatoes are covered in oil and pepper.
- Make some space in the middle of the dish and add the block of feta cheese. Pour the remaining olive oil (1/2 tbsp) and sprinkle some more pepper and rub on both sides of the feta cheese block. Transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Cook the pasta -> While the sauce cooks in the oven, boil the pasta (or pasta noodles) as per package instructions. Reserve about 1/4-1/2 cup of starchy pasta water before draining.
- Assembling -> After about 30-35 mins in the oven, the feta should have browned a little and the block will turn into a soft creamy mix and the cherry tomatoes would seem charred, jammy and blistered. Take the dish out of the oven and immediately add crushed garlic and basil leaves. (You can also add onion powder and oregano or chilli flakes for some extra flavour - totally optional) - mix well until a creamy sauce is formed. Press the tomatoes with the back of the spoon or a fork. You may wanna add some reserved pasta water to get the "sauce-like" consistency.
- Add pasta and mix well. Transfer to serving bowls and add some more chopped basil or chopped parsley & enjoy.
Leave a Reply