For an easy weeknight pasta dish that’s fuss free and flavorful, you have to check out this baked feta pasta with bursting cherry tomatoes. The dish is pretty much hands-off, and all the magic happens in the oven. Made with just a handful of ingredients.
I am a busy mom, and I am all about easy weeknight dinners and this couldn’t be easier, or more delicious. Bonus… adults and kids both love it!
Ingredients (this feeds a family of 5 with leftovers for lunch!)
16 ounces cavatappi pasta or pasta of choice. You can use any pasta you’d like or even make this with gluten-free pasta.
4 pints cherry tomatoes I highly recommend using fresh cherry tomatoes (not canned diced tomatoes) The rule with roasting cherry tomatoes is if you want them saucy, crowed the pan; if you want them dry roasted, place in a single layer to allow for air circulation. We want saucy here, and I found than an 8″x11″ baking dish works perfectly! You can set the oven to broil for 2 minutes at the end or turn the temperature to 450°F during the last 5 minutes of cooking for blistered tomatoes.
2-8 oz blocks of feta cheese (prefer French or Greek for creaminess) Use a block of feta cheese for best results. That’s because the block is less processed and will give a meltier consistency when baked.
1 cup Morelliville Farms Basil Olive Oil – the olive oil makes all the difference here – it’s essentially what makes up the sauce!
0.5 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of course black pepper
4 garlic cloves minced
0.5 cups fresh basil packed and chopped, plus more for serving
¼ cup Morelliville Farms Truffle Olive Oil – feel free to play around with a few other favorites like Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Tuscan Herbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or Provencal Herb Extra Virgin Olive Oil both for the sauce and the topping drizzle.
Embellishments
Seasoning & Herbs: You’ll need olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and basil. Play around with the seasoning and herbs if you’d like. You can try using some fresh oregano, fresh thyme or switching the fresh garlic for roasted garlic. I have even added honey and crushed pepper. Nothing reasonable can ruin this delicious dish!
How to make
Using a baking dish that’s safe for the oven like this one, add the tomatoes, basil olive oil, salt and pepper and mix to combine.
Add the block of Greek or French feta cheese to the center of the baking dish, and either flip it around a couple times to coat it with the olive oil and seasoning, or just add a touch more olive oil and a couple cracks of fresh black pepper.
Bake it in the oven until the tomatoes burst and the feta looks melted (and your house smells heavenly!)
There’s something about baked feta and bursting juicy sweet cherry tomatoes that is absolutely irresistible. Add to it some pasta, and this dish is a weeknight dream dinner come true!
As soon as it comes out of the oven, add some fresh minced garlic and fresh basil leaves.
Mix it around immediately so that the garlic softens from the heat in the dish.
Add cooked pasta on top and give everything a stir. The feta and tomatoes will essentially create a sauce for the pasta.
Once mixed drizzle with ¼ cup of Truffle olive oil.
*Pro tip Whenever I cook pasta, I like to save ½ a cup of pasta water just in case the pasta dish comes out dry. I didn’t use it here, but you can certainly add it if you feel the baked feta pasta needs more sauce. And in general, it will help the sauce be more smooth and creamy.
Different pasta and tomato options below:
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel-good Baked Feta Pasta recipe or any other recipe on Morelliville Farms Recipe Blog, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave us a comment! We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with us on Social Media so we can repost on our stories!
*This recipe can easily be cut in half for smaller family size.
