Description
This Baked Feta Pasta is a delightful combination of roasted grape tomatoes, garlic, and creamy feta cheese. Topped with fresh spinach and herbs, it’s a quick and satisfying meal perfect for busy nights and easy to prepare!
Ingredients
Scale
- 20 oz grape tomatoes
- 5 medium garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 8 oz spinach, roughly chopped about 8 packed cups
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
- 7 – 8 oz block feta cheese (sheep's milk variety) drained
- 10 oz dry pasta such as campanelle, rigatoni, rotini, penne, bow tie, or cavatappi
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt for pasta water
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or more to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- In a 3-quart baking dish, combine grape tomatoes and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and a few pinches of salt and pepper, then place feta in the center of the tomatoes, turning to coat it well with oil.
- Bake this mixture in the center of the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove the baking dish and elevate the oven rack to the upper third, increasing the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Bake for about 10 minutes longer, until the tomatoes and feta begin to brown slightly.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, using 1 tablespoon of salt and around 3 to 4 quarts of water, according to package instructions.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Just before draining, submerge the spinach in the boiling pasta; it will wilt almost instantly. Drain the pasta and spinach together.
- Mash the roasted tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and feta with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Combine the pasta with this mixture and mix in the basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes.
- Adjust the consistency with a few tablespoons of reserved pasta water, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Notes
For additional flavor, add more crushed red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.
Feel free to use your favorite pasta shape for this dish.
This recipe is perfect for meal prep and reheats well.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 700mg
- Fat: 21g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 30mg