VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, GLUTEN-FREE, NUT-FREE
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the lovely women out there. 👩🦰
Humble apologies for the long Hiatus 🙏 Its hard to believe that I did not write a post for the last 2 weeks. So what was going on ?
My older son turned 16 🤗 although this kid is totally ‘low-maintenance’ we could not let it pass by without some celebration. Nothing big, but something to remember for years to come. We celebrated his Birthday with an amazing weekend that culminated with a dinner gathering at a Greek restaurant. Vas Kouzina in Alpharetta – we absolutely love their food and have patronized their Roswell location many times.
Now lets get to the point – the link to this lovely pasta dish for tonight…..
….. we had a ton of ‘baked Feta’ appetizers that we brought home. So much so that consuming it as an appetizer was going to take us several days to finish it. Voila – baked Feta pasta comes to the rescue 😇
As you probably are aware, my kids absolutely love pasta. As you are also aware, we avoid plain ‘white’ pasta. So today’s recipe has Red Lentil penne. The sauce ingredients are Feta cheese, cherry Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil and Olive oil. Thats about it – totally only 5 ingredients.
Here is some back story – a year or so ago TikTok went crazy with ‘baked Feta pasta’. Although I am not a TikTok person, (I can barely manage staying afloat on Instagram 🤪) I did hear a lot about it on IG as well. So why not give it a try myself.
The success for any pasta recipe is to pick to 2-3 key ingredients. Let it shine… let it shine… all the time, let it shine ! 🤩
Cherry tomatoes and Feta are baked in a rich olive oil base with simple sea salt and Red pepper flakes (optional). Mash up the baked concoction, add chopped garlic and basil and mix thoroughly to a smooth creamy feta sauce interspersed with pieces of tangy cherry tomatoes. Add the cooked pasta and combine well. Top it off with some more ribbons of Basil. Thats it!
This dish is tangy, sweet, and as spicy as you want it to be. Enjoy!
Here are some more unique pasta recipes to try –
Fusion Dish – Bowtie pasta meets Asian flavors
Baked Pasta with caramelized mushrooms
Baked Feta pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups Red Lentil pasta
- 1 block Feta cheese – Greek style 8 oz
- 1 cup Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes multi color
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp Red Pepper flake optional
- 1 tbsp Garlic slices
- 1 tbsp Fresh Basil ribbons
Instructions
- Take a flat bottomed baking dish, put the Feta block in the centerNext spread the cherry tomatoes all around the Feta blockSprinkle sea salt and crushed red pepper flakes
- Bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until tomatoes have a caramelization If needed put the oven in broil for the last 5 minutes
- While the sauce is baking, cook the pasta as per package directions, coat with olive oil and sea salt, mix well and set asideReserve 1 cup of pasta water to dilute the sauce later
- Take the baked feta and tomatoes from the oven and carefully mash the tomatoes and the feta to make a creamy sauceIf necessary add some pasta water to loosen
- Add the cooked pasta and complete coat with the sauceAdd warm pasta water if necessary
- Finally add the remaining Basil strips and serve
