- A luscious, creamy pasta sauce is created when juicy cherry tomatoes are baked along with a block of feta.
- With grocery retailer staples, minimal prep, and solely about half-hour of cooking, this recipe’s good for an impromptu weeknight dinner.
- A spoonful of ready harissa sauce provides delicate warmth for a spicy improve to the unique viral recipe.
It’s no shock that the viral Baked Feta Pasta dish, first created by meals blogger Jenni Häyrinencontinues to be going robust. Her recipe relied on simplicity, but delivered a creamy sauce that adheres fantastically to pasta. The secret? A block of sheep-milk feta cheese and a few pints of cherry tomatoes. The dish rapidly gained reputation because of its ease and vibrant, satisfying flavors.
Just a handful of elements ship huge, savory taste for this weeknight-friendly dish. Roasting cherry tomatoes brings out and concentrates their sweetness, and as they burst, their juices mix with garlic, shallots, and oregano for a rounded, balanced sauce. This recipe will get an improve from harissa sauce — a North African chile paste made with roasted crimson peppers, garlic, and spices — in addition to a spicy kick and daring taste from crushed crimson pepper.
The fantastic thing about the dish is that the sauce virtually makes itself within the oven, reworking feta and tomatoes right into a creamy condiment to be stirred into pasta. Any noodle works, however brief shapes designed to seize onto sauce are the very best wager. Fusilli, penne rigate, and Fusillotti all make glorious decisions.
Variations for this dish
Stir in warmed white beans or chickpeas instead of pasta, or add greens like spinach or kale. Baby spinach may be combined in simply earlier than you pull the dish from the oven, whereas heartier greens like kale needs to be sautéed first to melt their fibrous leaves. You may add diced zucchini together with the tomatoes for a extra complicated, chunkier vegetable sauce. For a enjoyable twist, skip the pasta and serve the baked feta and tomato combination as a heat dip with slices of buttery garlic bread for dipping.
What are another methods to make use of harissa?
Harissa is offered as a concentrated paste, a looser ready-to-use sauce (as is named for on this recipe), or a dry spice mix. Whether buying a sauce, paste, or dry spice mix, harissa is way from a one-trick ingredient. Paste packs essentially the most warmth, whereas sauce is good for marinades and fast dishes, and the spice combine works effectively as a rub or seasoning. The sauce and paste maintain effectively within the fridge, and the spice may be saved within the pantry. Use harissa to spice up taste in soups and stews, or as a marinade for fish, hen, lamb, and extra. For a fast, flavorful choice, toss with carrot or cauliflower florets together with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roast till tender.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
- Use harissa sauce, not paste — the paste is just too intensely flavored and spicy and can overpower the opposite elements on this dish.
- Greek and French feta created from sheep milk will provide you with the creamiest outcomes. Avoid utilizing cow-milk feta because it tends to be drier and received’t mix right into a sauce as effectively.
Suggested pairing
A lemony Greek white equivalent to Lyrarakis Voila Assyrtiko.
This recipe was developed by Jasmine Smith; the textual content was written by Cheryl Slocum.
