I've taken the famous TikTok baked feta pasta recipe and stepped it up a notch with the addition of cherry tomatoes, courgettes, and roast garlic!
With only 8 ingredients, this easy pasta dish is just perfect for warm summer evenings when you don't want to be slaving over a hot stove. Let the oven work its magic!
A block of Greek feta cheese is roasted in the oven with cherry tomatoes, courgettes, and garlic, and then mixed to create a salty cheesy sauce for the pasta and roasted vegetables.
The baked tomato, courgette, and feta pasta is not only quick and easy to pull together (making it perfect for busy weeknights), but most importantly, it's super tasty!
👩🍳 Have you seen my cheesy courgette and tomato bake? Another delicious recipe using seasonal summer vegetables!
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- Quick and easy to make.
- Improved version of the famous TikTok baked feta pasta recipe.
- Perfect for summer.
- Uses seasonal summer vegetables.
- Garlicky and delicious.
🥘 Ingredients
- Pasta - a short pasta such as spirali, farfalle, or fusilli is best for this dish as the sauce clings to all the edges of the pasta.
- Feta - 1 block of Greek feta cheese. Don't be tempted to use 'Greek Style' cheese, you want the proper stuff! You can also use crumbled feta.
- Cherry Tomatoes - Cherry or baby plum tomatoes work well and I love the way they blister and split in the oven, but you could substitute for the same weight of chopped vine tomatoes instead.
- Courgettes - 1 medium courgette, halved then quartered and cut into 2cm chunks.
- Garlic - 3 garlic cloves in their skins. Roasting garlic in their skins produces a lovely mellow garlic flavour. Once cooked, squeeze the soft garlic out and mix it into the cheesy sauce.
- Fresh Basil - or substitute with different fresh herbs such as oregano or thyme.
- Olive Oil - a drizzle on the feta and vegetables before roasting helps prevent burning.
- Salt - a small amount of sea salt is needed to season the dish, but you won't need much as the feta is quite salty.
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Place the cherry tomatoes, chopped courgettes, and garlic cloves (remember to keep the skin on them) in an ovenproof dish. I used a 2-litre capacity pie dish. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Two: Nestle the block of feta in the middle of the vegetables and turn a few times to make sure the oil has coated it.
Three: Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Whilst the feta and vegetables are in the oven, cook the pasta according to instructions, and don't forget to reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining the pasta.
Four: Take the baking dish out of the oven and locate the garlic cloves. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of their skins and back into the dish. Use a spoon to mix the melted feta and garlic into a sauce. Add the cooked pasta and stir!
Five: Stir in some of the reserved pasta water if required, season, and serve with torn basil leaves.
💭 Top tips
- As with any pasta dish, reserve a cup of starchy pasta cooking water to add to the sauce, which will help it emulsify and go silky smooth. You won't need all of it, but it's better to reserve more than you need than to be left with pasta that's too dry!
- Use freshly harvested tomatoes and courgettes for the best flavour.
🍴 Serving suggestions
This summery pasta dish is perfect on its own, or for something more substantial why not make my pesto focaccia to go with it?
📖 Variations
- Try using different cheeses. Goats cheese and ricotta both work incredibly well and you could even try soft garlic and herb boursin!
- Use different vegetables. Why not add chopped aubergines, mushrooms and peppers to the dish?
- Flavour with different herbs. Fresh oregano or thyme would taste great!
- Spice it up by sprinkling red pepper flakes onto the finished dish!
- Add leftover roast chicken or chopped smoked sausage to the baked feta pasta, for added protein and flavour.
- Make it gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta.
🥡 Storage
Fridge
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave with a splash of water to ensure the pasta doesn't dry out.
Freezer
The baked feta pasta is best eaten fresh, but leftovers can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge before reheating in the microwave.
❓ FAQS
The original recipe called #uunifetapasta was made famous in Finland by Liemessa and then went viral on TikTok.
😋Related recipes
More delicious recipes using feta cheese!
🍽️ More family-friendly recipes
Delicious pasta recipes from the Effortless Foodie kitchen!
Tried this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating in the comments!
Recipe
Baked Feta Pasta with Tomatoes and Courgettes
Ingredients
- 300 g Pasta I used spirali but any short pasta would be fine.
- 400g Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 Courgette quaertered lengthway and chopped into 2cm chunks.
- 3 Garlic Cloves skin on!
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 200g Feta in a whole block
- 3 tablespoon Basil Leaves torn
- Salt to season
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°c (180 fan/ Gas 6/ 400F).
- Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to instructions. RESERVE 1 CUP OF PASTA COOKING WATER BEFORE DRAINING.
- Place the cherry tomatoes, courgettes and garlic in a 2 litre capacity baking dish and drizzle with oil. Mix gently with a spoon.
- Place the block of feta in the centre of the dish and turn it over a few times to makes sure it is coated in the oil
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until the tomatoes are starting to blister and the feta is soft and melted.
- Using a spoon mix the melted feta until it forms a sauce.
- Stir through the cooked pasta and add some reserved pasta water until you reach your desired sauce consistency!
- Season and serve with the torn basil leaves.
Video
Notes
- Try using different cheeses. Goats cheese and ricotta both work incredibly well and you could even try soft garlic and herb boursin!
- Use different vegetables. Why not add chopped aubergines, mushrooms and peppers to the dish?
- Flavour with different herbs. Fresh oregano or thyme would taste great!
- Spice it up by sprinkling red pepper flakes onto the finished dish!
- Add leftover roast chicken or chopped smoked sausage to the baked feta pasta, for added protein and flavour.
- Make it gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta.
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Jen
I'm so glad I tried this for dinner. It was super easy to make and absolutely delicious! Thanks for the tip about reserving pasta water. I can't believe I never knew that.
Katherine
Great idea to add in courgette to feta pasta! It looks heavenly!
Beth
Yummy! This pasta looks amazing and full of flavor! Can't wait to make this for dinner soon! Saving this for a dinner idea this week!
Patricia @ Grab a Plate
I can't wait to try this! I have almost all the ingredients, and I love the addition of zucchini!
Angela
I have tried a few of these baked feta pasta recipes. I really like this one. The garlic comes out so mellow and really adds to the recipe.