Feta Pasta Bake: Try The Viral Recipe

The viral feta pasta bake, but make it with roasted vegetables and balsamic to cut the creaminess and the saltiness. Of course when I saw this recipe all over the interwebs, I had to try it. It’s an ingenious idea to melt the feta and make it into a sauce and feta is abundant here. One of the things I love about grocery shopping here is that they tell you where the food is from. So when I see the Saudi feta or the UAE feta, this dish is definitely on my menu.

But you know I gotta mix it up! I have to bring the spice, extra veggies, and most of all, a twist with the balsamic. Just by nature, the cheesiness and richness of this dish needs acid, more acid than the usual tomatoes can deliver. Feta is also super salty, so the acid works with that flavor profile too. Its a win-win for this veggie-fied and elevated feta pasta bake!

Serves 4-6 depending on your will power.

Suggested Wine Pairing:

I’m not a huge fan of an oaky or buttery chardonnay, but I feel like the tartness of a Californian chardonnay aged in stainless steel would be a really good combo with this feta pasta bake.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of penne pasta

2 cups of grape tomatoes, halfed

1 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb. fresh spinach chopped

1/2 lb. feta cheese in a block, not crumbled

2 cloves garlic, raw or roasted, minced

1 Thai red chili pepper, minced or red pepper flakes

1/4 Balsamic glaze or regular vinegar would work too

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Fresh basil thinly sliced for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Arrange grape tomatoes, red onion, and yellow pepper in a large baking dish. Place your feta block in the center and top with minced garlic, chili pepper, and black pepper. Drizzle olive oil generously over the veggies.

1. After 10 minutes of roasting the veggies and cheese, it’s time to start boiling the water for the pasta.
2. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook to the package instructions. Meanwhile, remove the veggies from the oven and add the fresh spinach with a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil. Top the feta block with mozzarella and drizzle the balsamic glaze. Return to the oven.

1. Once the pasta is finished, drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Combine the pasta with the roasted vegetables and feta, and the cooking water. Stir to combine, top with fresh basil, and enjoy.

If you like this pasta recipe, try my chicken and broccoli macfredo or keep it vegetarian with my roasted red pepper and burrata pasta. If you are feta obsessed like me, give my lemony, garlicky, feta rich pasta or spinach and feta pesto pasta with peas!