Until american blogger and chef heard of the baked feta pasta from a friend, who’s boyfriend is a finnish chef and translated the recipe. The baked feta pasta recipe was in finnish, so it wasn’t really available for a boarder audience. I have a lot of finnish followers also abroad and my instagram feed was floded with baked feta pasta photos from Hawaii to Australia.

Finland has 5.5 million inhabitants, to put things into perspective. By everybody I mean EVERYBODY! The feta cheese sales went up 300 % here, the shops were running out of baked feta pasta ingredients and by this date the original uunifetapasta recipe post has over 2.7 million views. The funny thing is that #uunifetapasta actually turned into a viral hit in Finland and everybody was cooking it. With these words I started of the original blog post 1,5 years ago – with a twinkle in my eye. Serve right out of the baking dish.”Baked feta pasta! Have you already tried this viral hit pasta? I have. The melty feta and burst tomatoes will essentially create a sauce for the pasta. Add cooked pasta on top and give everything a good stir.Mix it around immediately so that the garlic softens from the heat in the dish.As soon as it comes out of the oven, add some fresh minced garlic and fresh basil leaves.'And your house smells heavenly!' Jawad adds. Bake it in the oven until the tomatoes burst and the feta looks melted.Jawad explains that it's key to either flip it around a couple of times to get coated with the olive oil and seasoning, 'or just add a touch more olive oil and a couple of fresh black pepper cracks on top.' Add a whole block of feta cheese to the center of the baking dish.Using an oven-safe baking dish, toss in your cherry or grape tomatoes, and shower them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.'Try adding some fresh oregano, fresh thyme, or switching the fresh garlic for roasted garlic,' she recommends. But beyond that, zhuzh as much as you'd like. Fresh Herbs and Seasonings: You'll definitely need olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh basil.However, I do like something with curves or edges so that the sauce can cling on to more of the pasta.' I really don't think there's a wrong shape of pasta to use. 'I have seen this made with penne, spaghetti, bow-tie noodles, and the works. Pasta: You can use any pasta you'd like, or try it with gluten-free pasta like Banza uses.'I've also heard success using high-quality full-fat ricotta,' she adds. Jawad adds that she's tried the recipe with goat cheese (swoon) and that it made a creamy perfect texture, but the cooking time may be less depending on how large the block of cheese you use is. Yes, it will still work with crumbled feta just make sure to keep the feta stacked in the middle so that it creates a melty consistency together. 'The block is less processed and will give a more melty consistency when baked,' Jawad explains. Feta Cheese: Use a block of feta cheese for best results.'Their small size means optimal flavor, and the presentation of the tomatoes when they burst is just stunning.' Tomatoes: 'Opt for cherry or grape tomatoes for this recipe,' suggests Jawad.First, gather your ingredients-and hope that you can still find feta at the supermarket!

Tick tock feta pasta