Ingredients
Serves/makes 4Instructions
- 1.
Gather ingredients and preheat the oven to 400°F.
- 2.
Prep the fresh ingredients: Wash and dice 5 Roma tomatoes into 1-inch pieces. Mince the 3 cloves garlic and 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, and dice ½ yellow onion.
- 3.
Add to casserole dish: Place the prepared tomatoes, onion, garlic, and parsley in a 9×13-inch casserole dish, then season with ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, and ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, then make a little space in the center for the feta.
- 4.
Place the 7 oz. block of feta in the center of the dish. Drizzle ½ cup olive oil over the feta and tomato mixture, then bake uncovered for 40 minutes.
- 5.
Cook pasta: While the feta bakes, cook 8 oz. rotini pasta (½ box) according to the package directions. Before draining, reserve ½ cup pasta water.
- 6.
Finish the sauce: Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven after 40 minutes. Add 1 cup packed fresh spinach to the casserole dish. Pour in ½ Tbsp honey and the ½ cup reserved pasta water and stir everything together, breaking up the feta and mixing it with the tomatoes while the spinach wilts from the heat.
- 7.
Combine with the pasta: Add the cooked rotini to the baking dish and stir until the pasta is fully coated.
- 8.
Finish and serve: Top your feta cheese pasta with 0.25 oz. torn fresh basil, and enjoy!
Related
Misc.
Notes
- Use any pasta shape you love. Rotini is the author's go-to because the spirals have a nice chewy bite and grab onto the creamy sauce, but penne, rigatoni, bowtie, shells, cavatappi, or even spaghetti all work great.
- Add a little honey for contrast. A small drizzle of honey softens the sharp tang of the salty feta.
- Add in your favorite protein. Leftover roasted chicken breast (diced), baked tofu, cooked chickpeas, white beans, shredded rotisserie chicken, or cooked lentils are all great add-ins.
- Swapping Roma tomatoes for cherry or grape tomatoes saves about $7+ per recipe. If you want to use cherry or grape, you will need 4 cups for this recipe.
- Frozen spinach will also work in this recipe; use ¼ cup if using frozen.