Baked feta pasta
A block of feta and a pile of cherry tomatoes roast together until jammy, then get mashed into a creamy, tangy sauce right in the baking dish.
- 45 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $4.50 a serving
- 600 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 packages cherry tomatoes, two 10-oz packages
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 8 oz feta cheese, a block
- 12 oz gluten-free pasta, any short shape; regular pasta works too
- ½ cup fresh basil, torn
From your pantry
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 600 calories, 16 g protein, 76 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $4.50 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No feta cheese? Goat cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Put the tomatoes and smashed garlic in a 9x13-inch baking dish, add the olive oil, pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon salt and the pepper, and to coat.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Nestle the feta in the middle, turn it once to coat it in oil, and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the tomatoes have burst and the feta is soft and at the edges.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 32 min
Dolly’s tip: Burst tomatoes are the goal. If most are still round, give it 5 more minutes.When the dish has 15 minutes left, bring a large pot of water with the rest of the salt over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cook the pasta until just , then scoop out ½ cup of and .
Al dente. Al dente is Italian for “to the tooth”: pasta cooked until tender but with a slight firm bite in the center. It holds up in sauce and keeps softening a little after you drain it.
How you’ll know: Bite a piece a minute before the package time: tender, with a slight firm bite in the middle and no crunch.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Gluten-free pasta softens fast, so start tasting 2 minutes early.Set the hot dish on the stovetop and mash the feta, tomatoes and garlic together with a fork until creamy.
Dolly’s tip: The dish is very hot, so hold it with an oven mitt while you mash.Add the pasta and torn basil and stir, splashing in until the sauce is glossy. Serve warm.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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