For about a year or so, this “Uunifetapasta” dish has been all over the interwebs, and I just got around to trying it.
Attributed to Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen, it is dead simple – a block (or more) of Feta cheese, some sliced grape tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and herbs. It is also pretty darned tasty.
I used about 10 ounces of Feta and the same amount of halved tomatoes, but you do what you want.
INGREDIENTS
•10.5 oz Feta (a block, not crumbled)
•10 oz grape tomatoes, halved
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes*
•Chopped fresh basil
•Chopped fresh parsley
*Or more or less, according to your tastes.
Heat your oven to 400º and drizzle some olive oil in a large baking dish.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings and toss to coat well.
Remove the Feta block(s) from the brine (discard the brine, unless you have some wicked cool other use for it), and arrange the Feta in the middle of the tomatoes. I rolled the Feta block around a bit in the oil and seasonings, then flipped the block(s) over and did the same, to get some seasoning on both sides of the Feta.
Bake for 15 minutes, then raise the oven temperature to 450º and continue to bake until the cheese and the tomatoes browned a bit. I gave mine 15 minutes, but might could’ve gone 20, so see what you think when you make yours.
We had ours over pasta with leftover barbecued pork chunks, but I am betting this would work over rice, or fish, or chicken, most anything you want a nice cheesy tomato sauce over.