Baked Feta Pasta Cherry Tomatoes (Printer-friendly)

Mediterranean dish featuring baked feta and roasted cherry tomatoes paired with short pasta.

# What You Need:

→ Cheese & Dairy

01 - 7 oz block feta cheese

→ Vegetables

02 - 1 lb cherry tomatoes
03 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
04 - 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
05 - 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

→ Pasta

06 - 10 oz short pasta (penne, fusilli, or similar)

→ Spices & Seasonings

07 - ½ tsp dried oregano
08 - ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
09 - Salt, to taste
10 - Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

# How to Make It:

01 - Set oven to 400°F to preheat.
02 - Place cherry tomatoes and minced garlic in a large oven-safe baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with oregano, red pepper flakes if using, salt, and black pepper. Toss to combine evenly.
03 - Nestle the block of feta cheese in the center of the baking dish among the tomatoes. Drizzle additional olive oil over the feta.
04 - Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until tomatoes burst and feta develops a golden crust.
05 - Simultaneously, cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions until al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta water then drain.
06 - Remove baking dish from oven. Using a fork, mash the baked feta and tomatoes until creamy and well blended.
07 - Add cooked pasta and chopped basil to the baking dish. Toss thoroughly, adding reserved pasta water gradually for a creamier consistency if desired.
08 - Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve immediately, garnished with extra fresh basil leaves.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It requires almost no actual cooking skill, just a hot oven and patience while the tomatoes burst and the feta softens into a sauce all on its own.
  • The flavor is so rich and tangy that people always assume you spent an hour stirring something on the stove.
02 -
  • Do not skip reserving the pasta water, because plain water will not give you the same silky texture that the starchy liquid does.
  • If your feta is not browning after 30 minutes, turn on the broiler for the last 2 or 3 minutes and watch it closely so it does not burn.
03 -
  • If your baking dish is too small and the tomatoes are piled high, they will steam instead of roast, so give them space to blister and caramelize properly.
  • Toss the pasta in the baking dish instead of a separate bowl, because scraping up all those caramelized bits from the bottom is where the deepest flavor hides.

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