TIKTOK FETA PASTA - REVAMPED

The pasta dish that broke the Internet. But better. Keep reading to find out why!

Click on the chef's hat to skip to the recipe.

Although I’m not on TikTok, I had seen this recipe blow up my Instagram feed. So when @maitri.kamath asked me to try this dish out, I decided to give it a shot. The ingredients were very easy to obtain, and I set to work on a quiet Saturday morning. That’s when I realized the problem with the recipe.

The basic ingredients of this were tomatoes and feta - both extremely acidic and salty foods that would evidently not taste very pleasant in a sauce together, even with a whole lot of seasoning. The fact that all the Instagram reels I watched showed food bloggers place an ENTIRE block of feta into a baking dish was very unsettling to me in the very least. Regardless, I was determined to pushed forward, so I halved some grape tomatoes, and placed half a block of feta instead of an entire one for the sake of my taste buds. I added some chopped garlic, red pepper flakes and oregano, and finished with a drizzle of olive oil.

After placing it into the oven, I placed a pot of pasta on the stove to cook. Once the feta and tomatoes were done, I removed them from the oven and added the pasta. Upon tasting it, it was without doubt the saltiest pasta dish I had ever tasted (even without the addition of extra salt!). I wasn’t about to let an entire dish of pasta go to waste, so I decided to innovate and added some sautéed spinach, mushrooms and bell peppers for flavor and a dash of color and it worked wonders to improve the dish.

While I think the idea sounds very convenient and easy, the dish in its foundation is quite…bland. Except for the overwhelming saltiness and acidity from the tomatoes, I found no appeal in the flavor or the convenience of making it. I would much rather stir fry tomatoes and garlic, toss in the cooked pasta and add the feta grated into the dish instead, which would make the flavors more subtle and reduce its monotony. Yet another proclaimed advantage is that the feta pasta dish is “convenient”, which also I don’t entirely agree with. I fail to see how this is any more convenient that sautéing all your vegetables in a pan while your pasta cooks in a pot on the stove next to you. This may also be a matter of personal preference - I have no trouble multitasking over a stove, so while I am very comfortable with cooking two dishes in two different pots, I am a little more skeptical about oven-roasting vegetables. Moreover, feta cheese absorbs moisture, so if you want to have this dish for leftovers, you would end up with a very dry pasta dish with a scatter of tomatoes. Lastly, this dish has NO nutritional value whatsoever…? Tomatoes and cheese along with pasta does not sound even remotely ideal if you’re looking for a meal fortified with nutrients (which is why I recommend adding vegetables/protein to make it more wholesome and filling).

All this being said, while I was not pleased with the feta + tomato combination alone, I was pleasantly surprised by the difference when I added a whole lot of vegetables along with a very substantial helpful of seasonings like chilli flakes, dried basil and black pepper. I would not make the basic recipe for a weeknight dinner perhaps, but it is very customizable if you enjoy vegetables, tofu or meat in your pasta. I have tweaked this iconic dish, and was able to enjoy leftovers for an additional day. Keep reading for my take on this Internet-famous pasta dish.

TIKTOK FETA PASTA: RECIPE

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 40 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 block of feta, whole

• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved

• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• 1 tsp black pepper, crushed

• Olive oil as needed

• Pasta of choice

• Water to cook pasta

• 10-15 sliced shiitake mushrooms

• 1 cup spinach

• 1 red bell pepper, julienned

• Salt to taste

RECIPE

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Don’t forget to vigorously salt the pasta water!

2. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and set aside.

3. Preheat your oven at 420 F.

4. In a baking dish, add your feta, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Drizzle olive oil generously.Let sit for 15 minutes.

5. Bake at 420 F for 15 mins.

6. In a frying pan, add olive oil. Add all your vegetables - mushroom, spinach and bell peppers. Saute for 5 minutes until tender.

7. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and dried basil.

8. Transfer the contents of the baking dish into the pan once fully roasted.

9. Add your pasta water to create a cohesive sauce. You may have to stir for a few minutes to incorporate everything!

10. Add your pasta and stir well.

11. Season as needed.

12. Enjoy!

#Cheese #Pasta #Lunch #Dinner

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