Baked Feta With Cherry Tomatoes

But when I realized I didn’t have half the called-for spices and only half the called-for yogurt, I turned to another popular recipe: baked feta pasta. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

No? Well, it’s a recipe, I’ve learned, that’s been on the web since 2018, but only gained traction earlier this year thanks to a few TikTokers (is that what they’re called?) with large audiences. In short, you bake a block of feta cheese with cherry tomatoes and olive oil; then, when everything is all melty and blistered, you throw pasta into the pan and toss everything together.

I never got around to making the dish when it was traversing the web in January and February, and I still haven’t made it in its entirety — instead of tossing the baked cheese and tomatoes with pasta, I’ve been plopping the dish on the table and serving warm focaccia on the side.

It is, as you might imagine, incredibly delicious. Given its viral reception, this shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was — I think I tend to approach viral recipes with skepticism because they feel more gimmicky than good.

But, Friends! This is really good. Maddeningly good! Have you made it? Did you know Finland nearly ran out of feta due to the recipe’s popularity? It’s true!

When I made the dish last Sunday, I served it aside chicken souvlaki , and while I usually can’t imagine serving chicken souvlaki without tzatziki , this dip subbed in just fine. I had a hard time not eating every bite of chicken with a spoonful of the feta dip and an even harder time refraining from just. one. more. piece. of. tomato-feta-sopped bread.

Friends, I almost didn’t post this recipe because, well, I sort of feel like it’s very old news at this point. But I’m taking the risk and hoping the viral TikTok recipe maybe escaped your radar or maybe didn’t move you to make it when you learned about it.

If you are still getting good cherry tomatoes — we are up here — let this be the last tomato recipe you make this season. You won’t be disappointed.

How To Make Baked Feta with Cherry Tomatoes:

Gather your ingredients: cherry tomatoes, feta, and, if you wish, garlic, shallots, and chilies.

Slice four cloves of garlic thinly. Slice two chilies thinly. Alternatively, use a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.

Slice the shallot thinly.

Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a baking dish. Top with the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Add the feta. Drizzle 2 more tablespoons of olive oil over top, and crack more pepper to taste over top as well.

Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes…

… then transfer to the broil for 5 minutes.

Add a handful of basil:

Stir to combine.

Serve with warm bread :

This is heaven, truly.

Incidentally, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot because it’s so darn simple. With this latest batch, I mixed the dough, stuck it in the fridge, then proceeded with the recipe 3 days later! I was worried the dough might have over-fermented, but it didn’t. Look how happy she looks:

Finally, local friends, this Maplebrook Farm feta is so good. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op and other local markets.

Here’s another fun thing you can do with the baked feta and tomatoes: toss it with baked spaghetti squash :

She’s not the prettiest, but she sure is tasty.

Description

Adapted from Liemessa’s viral hit recipe for baked feta pasta .

Notes:

• Local friends, if you can get your hands on Maplebrook Farm feta , it’s a real treat. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op.

• If you want to turn this into the viral pasta recipe, use 4 more tablespoons oil (I cut the amount of oil in half) and boil a pound of pasta. Save the pasta cooking liquid. Toss the cooked pasta with the finished roasted tomato-feta mixture. Thin with pasta cooking liquid if necessary.

• If you want to toss this with spaghetti squash, keep the proportions the same, and toss with the roasted strands of one spaghetti squash: halve the squash crosswise, scoop out the seeds, season with salt and pepper, then roast cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 45 minutes at 350ºF. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the squash from the skin.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 lb. (450 to 500 g) cherry tomatoes

• 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced

• 1 small shallot, optional, thinly sliced

• 1 to 2 small hot chilies, optional, thinly sliced or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

• flaky sea salt

• fresh cracked black pepper

• 7 ounce ( 200 grams ) block of feta, see notes above, cut into two slabs

• handful of fresh basil

• bread for serving, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot recently

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Place one rack in the middle of the oven. Place one rack at the very top, close to the broiler.
2. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into an 8- or 9-inch baking dish (or something similar). Add the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and chilies. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Add the feta. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Crack more pepper over top to taste.
3. Transfer pan to your oven’s middle rack for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, transfer the pan to the top rack, and switch to your oven’s broiler setting. Broil on high for 5 minutes (or more or less), keeping a close watch the entire time. While the tomatoes broil, heat up some bread — I’ve been doing this in the toaster oven but you probably could get away with putting the bread on the very bottom rack of your oven while the tomatoes broil.
4. When the tomatoes are blistered to your liking, remove the pan from the heat. Toss in a handful of basil and stir gently to combine. Serve with slices of warm bread.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

But when I realized I didn’t have half the called-for spices and only half the called-for yogurt, I turned to another popular recipe: baked feta pasta. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

No? Well, it’s a recipe, I’ve learned, that’s been on the web since 2018, but only gained traction earlier this year thanks to a few TikTokers (is that what they’re called?) with large audiences. In short, you bake a block of feta cheese with cherry tomatoes and olive oil; then, when everything is all melty and blistered, you throw pasta into the pan and toss everything together.

I never got around to making the dish when it was traversing the web in January and February, and I still haven’t made it in its entirety — instead of tossing the baked cheese and tomatoes with pasta, I’ve been plopping the dish on the table and serving warm focaccia on the side.

It is, as you might imagine, incredibly delicious. Given its viral reception, this shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was — I think I tend to approach viral recipes with skepticism because they feel more gimmicky than good.

But, Friends! This is really good. Maddeningly good! Have you made it? Did you know Finland nearly ran out of feta due to the recipe’s popularity? It’s true!

When I made the dish last Sunday, I served it aside chicken souvlaki , and while I usually can’t imagine serving chicken souvlaki without tzatziki , this dip subbed in just fine. I had a hard time not eating every bite of chicken with a spoonful of the feta dip and an even harder time refraining from just. one. more. piece. of. tomato-feta-sopped bread.

Friends, I almost didn’t post this recipe because, well, I sort of feel like it’s very old news at this point. But I’m taking the risk and hoping the viral TikTok recipe maybe escaped your radar or maybe didn’t move you to make it when you learned about it.

If you are still getting good cherry tomatoes — we are up here — let this be the last tomato recipe you make this season. You won’t be disappointed.

How To Make Baked Feta with Cherry Tomatoes:

Gather your ingredients: cherry tomatoes, feta, and, if you wish, garlic, shallots, and chilies.

Slice four cloves of garlic thinly. Slice two chilies thinly. Alternatively, use a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.

Slice the shallot thinly.

Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a baking dish. Top with the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Add the feta. Drizzle 2 more tablespoons of olive oil over top, and crack more pepper to taste over top as well.

Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes…

… then transfer to the broil for 5 minutes.

Add a handful of basil:

Stir to combine.

Serve with warm bread :

This is heaven, truly.

Incidentally, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot because it’s so darn simple. With this latest batch, I mixed the dough, stuck it in the fridge, then proceeded with the recipe 3 days later! I was worried the dough might have over-fermented, but it didn’t. Look how happy she looks:

Finally, local friends, this Maplebrook Farm feta is so good. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op and other local markets.

Here’s another fun thing you can do with the baked feta and tomatoes: toss it with baked spaghetti squash :

She’s not the prettiest, but she sure is tasty.

Description

Adapted from Liemessa’s viral hit recipe for baked feta pasta .

Notes:

• Local friends, if you can get your hands on Maplebrook Farm feta , it’s a real treat. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op.

• If you want to turn this into the viral pasta recipe, use 4 more tablespoons oil (I cut the amount of oil in half) and boil a pound of pasta. Save the pasta cooking liquid. Toss the cooked pasta with the finished roasted tomato-feta mixture. Thin with pasta cooking liquid if necessary.

• If you want to toss this with spaghetti squash, keep the proportions the same, and toss with the roasted strands of one spaghetti squash: halve the squash crosswise, scoop out the seeds, season with salt and pepper, then roast cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 45 minutes at 350ºF. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the squash from the skin.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 lb. (450 to 500 g) cherry tomatoes

• 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced

• 1 small shallot, optional, thinly sliced

• 1 to 2 small hot chilies, optional, thinly sliced or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

• flaky sea salt

• fresh cracked black pepper

• 7 ounce ( 200 grams ) block of feta, see notes above, cut into two slabs

• handful of fresh basil

• bread for serving, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot recently

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Place one rack in the middle of the oven. Place one rack at the very top, close to the broiler.
2. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into an 8- or 9-inch baking dish (or something similar). Add the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and chilies. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Add the feta. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Crack more pepper over top to taste.
3. Transfer pan to your oven’s middle rack for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, transfer the pan to the top rack, and switch to your oven’s broiler setting. Broil on high for 5 minutes (or more or less), keeping a close watch the entire time. While the tomatoes broil, heat up some bread — I’ve been doing this in the toaster oven but you probably could get away with putting the bread on the very bottom rack of your oven while the tomatoes broil.
4. When the tomatoes are blistered to your liking, remove the pan from the heat. Toss in a handful of basil and stir gently to combine. Serve with slices of warm bread.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

But when I realized I didn’t have half the called-for spices and only half the called-for yogurt, I turned to another popular recipe: baked feta pasta. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

No? Well, it’s a recipe, I’ve learned, that’s been on the web since 2018, but only gained traction earlier this year thanks to a few TikTokers (is that what they’re called?) with large audiences. In short, you bake a block of feta cheese with cherry tomatoes and olive oil; then, when everything is all melty and blistered, you throw pasta into the pan and toss everything together.

I never got around to making the dish when it was traversing the web in January and February, and I still haven’t made it in its entirety — instead of tossing the baked cheese and tomatoes with pasta, I’ve been plopping the dish on the table and serving warm focaccia on the side.

It is, as you might imagine, incredibly delicious. Given its viral reception, this shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was — I think I tend to approach viral recipes with skepticism because they feel more gimmicky than good.

But, Friends! This is really good. Maddeningly good! Have you made it? Did you know Finland nearly ran out of feta due to the recipe’s popularity? It’s true!

When I made the dish last Sunday, I served it aside chicken souvlaki , and while I usually can’t imagine serving chicken souvlaki without tzatziki , this dip subbed in just fine. I had a hard time not eating every bite of chicken with a spoonful of the feta dip and an even harder time refraining from just. one. more. piece. of. tomato-feta-sopped bread.

Friends, I almost didn’t post this recipe because, well, I sort of feel like it’s very old news at this point. But I’m taking the risk and hoping the viral TikTok recipe maybe escaped your radar or maybe didn’t move you to make it when you learned about it.

If you are still getting good cherry tomatoes — we are up here — let this be the last tomato recipe you make this season. You won’t be disappointed.

How To Make Baked Feta with Cherry Tomatoes:

Gather your ingredients: cherry tomatoes, feta, and, if you wish, garlic, shallots, and chilies.

Slice four cloves of garlic thinly. Slice two chilies thinly. Alternatively, use a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.

Slice the shallot thinly.

Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a baking dish. Top with the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Add the feta. Drizzle 2 more tablespoons of olive oil over top, and crack more pepper to taste over top as well.

Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes…

… then transfer to the broil for 5 minutes.

Add a handful of basil:

Stir to combine.

Serve with warm bread :

This is heaven, truly.

Incidentally, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot because it’s so darn simple. With this latest batch, I mixed the dough, stuck it in the fridge, then proceeded with the recipe 3 days later! I was worried the dough might have over-fermented, but it didn’t. Look how happy she looks:

Finally, local friends, this Maplebrook Farm feta is so good. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op and other local markets.

Here’s another fun thing you can do with the baked feta and tomatoes: toss it with baked spaghetti squash :

She’s not the prettiest, but she sure is tasty.

Description

Adapted from Liemessa’s viral hit recipe for baked feta pasta .

Notes:

• Local friends, if you can get your hands on Maplebrook Farm feta , it’s a real treat. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op.

• If you want to turn this into the viral pasta recipe, use 4 more tablespoons oil (I cut the amount of oil in half) and boil a pound of pasta. Save the pasta cooking liquid. Toss the cooked pasta with the finished roasted tomato-feta mixture. Thin with pasta cooking liquid if necessary.

• If you want to toss this with spaghetti squash, keep the proportions the same, and toss with the roasted strands of one spaghetti squash: halve the squash crosswise, scoop out the seeds, season with salt and pepper, then roast cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 45 minutes at 350ºF. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the squash from the skin.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 lb. (450 to 500 g) cherry tomatoes

• 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced

• 1 small shallot, optional, thinly sliced

• 1 to 2 small hot chilies, optional, thinly sliced or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

• flaky sea salt

• fresh cracked black pepper

• 7 ounce ( 200 grams ) block of feta, see notes above, cut into two slabs

• handful of fresh basil

• bread for serving, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot recently

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Place one rack in the middle of the oven. Place one rack at the very top, close to the broiler.
2. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into an 8- or 9-inch baking dish (or something similar). Add the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and chilies. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Add the feta. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Crack more pepper over top to taste.
3. Transfer pan to your oven’s middle rack for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, transfer the pan to the top rack, and switch to your oven’s broiler setting. Broil on high for 5 minutes (or more or less), keeping a close watch the entire time. While the tomatoes broil, heat up some bread — I’ve been doing this in the toaster oven but you probably could get away with putting the bread on the very bottom rack of your oven while the tomatoes broil.
4. When the tomatoes are blistered to your liking, remove the pan from the heat. Toss in a handful of basil and stir gently to combine. Serve with slices of warm bread.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Description

Adapted from Liemessa’s viral hit recipe for baked feta pasta .

Notes:

• Local friends, if you can get your hands on Maplebrook Farm feta , it’s a real treat. They sell it at the Niskayuna Co-op.

• If you want to turn this into the viral pasta recipe, use 4 more tablespoons oil (I cut the amount of oil in half) and boil a pound of pasta. Save the pasta cooking liquid. Toss the cooked pasta with the finished roasted tomato-feta mixture. Thin with pasta cooking liquid if necessary.

• If you want to toss this with spaghetti squash, keep the proportions the same, and toss with the roasted strands of one spaghetti squash: halve the squash crosswise, scoop out the seeds, season with salt and pepper, then roast cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 45 minutes at 350ºF. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the squash from the skin.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 lb. (450 to 500 g) cherry tomatoes

• 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced

• 1 small shallot, optional, thinly sliced

• 1 to 2 small hot chilies, optional, thinly sliced or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

• flaky sea salt

• fresh cracked black pepper

• 7 ounce ( 200 grams ) block of feta, see notes above, cut into two slabs

• handful of fresh basil

• bread for serving, I’ve been making this focaccia a lot recently

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Place one rack in the middle of the oven. Place one rack at the very top, close to the broiler.
2. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into an 8- or 9-inch baking dish (or something similar). Add the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and chilies. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Add the feta. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Crack more pepper over top to taste.
3. Transfer pan to your oven’s middle rack for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, transfer the pan to the top rack, and switch to your oven’s broiler setting. Broil on high for 5 minutes (or more or less), keeping a close watch the entire time. While the tomatoes broil, heat up some bread — I’ve been doing this in the toaster oven but you probably could get away with putting the bread on the very bottom rack of your oven while the tomatoes broil.
4. When the tomatoes are blistered to your liking, remove the pan from the heat. Toss in a handful of basil and stir gently to combine. Serve with slices of warm bread.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2021/09/29/baked-feta-with-cherry-tomatoes/

Smothered with caramelized onions and layered with tomatoes, anchovies, olives, and garlic, pissaladière is irresistible! The no-knead dough, focaccia, combined with the toppings, is truly a delicacy, like pasta Puttanesca in bread form: sweet, salty, oily, briny, bold, and aromatic. Heaven!

Pissaladière is a Provençal tart smothered with caramelized onions, anchovies, and olives. According to this Saveur article , pissaladière gets its name from pissalat , a pungent anchovy paste made by layering baby anchovies and sardines with salt, spices, and herbs and fermenting the mixture for 45 days. Early versions of pissaladière called for spreading the fish paste over the dough before layering onions on top.

Today, the tart is characterized by an iconic arrangement of anchovies over the dough in a crisscross diamond motif, with olives either marking the anchovies’ intersections or the centers of the diamonds they form. I’ve never loved this geometric pattern, so I make an anchovy-and-olive paste instead, similar, I suppose, to the pissalat . I like this approach for a few reasons, namely that it more evenly disperses the intense (umami!) flavor throughout the dough, and, in some ways, because it disguises it: those who think they dislike anchovies won’t know they’re there.

In the summer, I like to add tomatoes to mine, too, and truly, to me, there are few combinations more delicious than this one: it’s like pasta Puttanesca in bread form, all sweet and salty, oily and briny, bold and aromatic.

How to Make Pissaladière, Step by Step

First, make the focaccia dough, whichever recipe you prefer, until it completes its bulk fermentation. Pictured below is sourdough focaccia , but most often I make this yeast-leavened focaccia :

Transfer the dough to a buttered and olive-oiled pan. If you are certain your dough will not stick to the pan you are using, you can get away with olive oil alone; if there is any question, butter the pan first—it will ensure your dough releases without issue. Let the dough rise for 3 to 5 hours or until it looks like …

… this.

In the meantime, gather your ingredients for the topping: garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, olive oil, tomatoes, and onions.

Make a coarse purée with the olives, garlic, capers, anchovies, and olive oil.

Sauté the onions until lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes over medium to low heat.

Then layer the toppings over the dough as follows: onions, olive purée, and tomatoes.

Dimple one last time; then transfer to the oven immediately. Bake until evenly golden, about 25 minutes.

Cut into squares; serve warm or at room temperature.

Description

Smothered with caramelized onions and layered with tomatoes, anchovies, olives, and garlic, pissaladière is irresistible! The no-knead dough, focaccia, combined with the toppings, is truly a delicacy, like pasta Puttanesca in bread form: sweet, salty, oily, briny, bold, and aromatic. Heaven!

Notes:

Adapted from my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs . In my cookbook, I make the pissaladière start to finish in just about 3 hours. In this updated version, I call for either an overnight, refrigerated focaccia (yeasted) or a sourdough focaccia, both of which were adapted from the BTC focaccia recipe.

The pan: Any standard half-sheet pan will work here. I love this Lloyd “Gramma” style pan for pissaladière.

The Dough:

• yeasted focaccia, made through step 1
• sourdough focaccia, made through step 3

For assembly:

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
• 3 cups sliced onions (about 3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced)
• pinch of kosher salt
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 anchovies
• 1 tablespoon capers
• ½ cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata or niçoise olives
• 1 cup diced tomatoes

1. Make your focaccia dough through step 1 for the overnight refrigerator focaccia and through step 3 for the sourdough focaccia.
2. For the pissaladière toppings : In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. When it begins to shimmer, add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cover; then immediately reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the onions are lightly golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a food processor, mince the garlic and anchovies together. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and blend until smooth. Add the capers and pulse to coarsely chop. Add the olives and pulse again to coarsely chop. Set aside.
4. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or coat with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons oil on the sheet pan. Using lightly greased hands, deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl. Again, using your hands, shape the dough into a rough ball or rectangle; then transfer it to the prepared sheet pan. Roll the dough ball in the oil to coat it all over. Let it rest without touching it for 3 to 5 hours or until the dough has puffed considerably and is filling the pan.
5. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 425°F.
6. With lightly greased hands, press down on the dough, using all 10 fingers to dimple and stretch the dough outward. Pull gently on the ends and stretch them toward the corners of the sheet pan. When the dough begins to resist being stretched, let it rest for 5 minutes, then stretch it again, continuing until it fits most of the sheet pan.
7. Spread the sautéed onions over the dough. Top with the anchovy puree. Finally, scatter the tomatoes over top. Use all 10 fingers again to dimple the dough and gently stretch it.
8. Transfer the sheet pan to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the underside is golden and crisp. Remove the pissaladière from the oven and transfer it to a cutting board. Let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting it into squares.

• Prep Time: 24 hours
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: Bread
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American, French