I've never really been a big pasta person, but I find myself making this pasta every
second week if not every week! It's super easy to make and doesn't take very long either!
Tips:
*Remember to save some pasta water to add to pasta/feta mixture at the end depending on how saucy you want your finished product.
*You can always increase or decrease the amount of spices added - I love adding extra chilli flakes and a little extra feta cheese. In that case, I wouldn’t add too much salt since the feta is already pretty salty.
*Garlic is
my favourite, so if you don’t like it as much, just add less than the recipe says.
Makes 3-4 servings
What you’ll need:
1 box of penne pasta (340 g)
20 ounces grape/cherry tomatoes
8-10 oz. feta cheese, drained
8-12 whole garlic cloves with the shell (will peel after it comes out of the oven)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Spices: salt, black pepper, chilli flakes, oregano, thyme, Italian, garlic powder, cayenne pepper
Big handful of chopped fresh basil
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In your baking dish add tomatoes, whole garlic cloves, olive oil, and all your spices. Add enough oil so everything is nicely coated. Then place the block of feta in the centre. Coat with a little bit of oil and spices.
- Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes burst and browned and feta is toasted.
- Cook pasta: meanwhile boil pasta to al dente in salted water and save about 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Once the feta mixture is done in the oven, take out of the oven and remove the shells from the garlic cloves. Smash the tomatoes, garlic, oil, and feta together with a fork to make a nice sauce.
- Add the pasta and basil: toss everything together.
- Thin and season: Then you can go in with your pasta water you saved from earlier. Add to your liking. For more of a saucy pasta, add more water. For more of a dry pasta, don’t add any water. Season with whatever you feel is missing from the pasta. Serve warm and enjoy!