Description
Baked Feta Pasta is a creamy, tangy, and flavorful pasta dish made by roasting feta cheese and cherry tomatoes until soft and blending them into a luscious sauce. This easy-to-make recipe features simple ingredients baked together and tossed with perfectly cooked pasta, fresh basil, and seasoning for a delicious weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta
- 8 ounces pasta
Baked Feta and Tomato Sauce
- 1 block (8 ounces) feta cheese
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed and halved
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Garnish
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) to prepare for baking the feta and tomatoes.
- Boil Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stovetop for cooking the pasta.
- Cook Pasta: Add 8 ounces of pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions, usually 8-10 minutes, until al dente.
- Arrange Feta: Place an 8-ounce block of feta cheese in the center of a baking dish.
- Add Tomatoes: Scatter the halved cherry tomatoes around the feta cheese in the dish.
- Drizzle Olive Oil: Drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil evenly over the feta and tomatoes.
- Season: Sprinkle 1 teaspoon dried oregano evenly over the ingredients.
- Add Spices: Add 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus salt and black pepper to taste, distributing evenly.
- Bake: Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the feta is soft and lightly golden around the edges.
- Mash Ingredients: Remove the dish from the oven and mash the softened feta and tomatoes together with a spoon or fork to create a creamy sauce.
- Drain Pasta: Drain the cooked pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
- Combine Pasta and Sauce: Add the drained pasta directly into the baking dish with the feta and tomato sauce.
- Toss Pasta: Toss everything together, adding reserved pasta water if needed to loosen and combine the sauce.
- Add Basil: Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil over the pasta.
- Final Toss: Give the pasta one final gentle toss to incorporate the basil evenly.
- Serve: Serve immediately and enjoy your creamy, flavorful baked feta pasta!
Notes
- You can substitute cherry tomatoes with grape tomatoes or halved small Roma tomatoes if preferred.
- For a spicier version, increase the crushed red pepper flakes to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Gluten-free pasta can be used to make the dish gluten-free.
- Reserve some pasta water to adjust the sauce consistency when mixing.
- The dish is best enjoyed fresh immediately after preparation.
