Remember the time during Covid, when the internet lost its collective mind over the baked feta trend? The original recipe came from Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen, whose “uunifetapasta” (oven feta pasta) went viral in 2019 and made its way into kitchens everywhere.
It was a genius move: Jenni nestled a block of feta among cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves, and drizzled it with olive oil and seasonings. She then baked it until the feta became oozy, and the tomatoes reduced to a pulpy mush. Basil leaves and cooked pasta got tossed in, and that was that. It was simple, comforting, and uncharacteristically elegant for how little effort it took.
I’ve kept the spirit of this but turned it sideways a little. For bulk, I cooked some mushrooms in a pan and added them to the dish. They add an earthy, savoury element while also giving you the “veggie” component that I’m always after. The tomatoes are the regular variety, not cherry tomatoes. They first get roasted in the oven until they caramelise around the edges and collapse into themselves. There’s also black olives for their briny sharpness, and dollops of pesto for extra oomph.
The pièce de résistance, of course, is the feta – in the heat of the oven, it softens, but unlike an oozy mozzarella; it remains custard-y and tender, and coats everything while still remaining visible.
We love it hot, piled onto crusty toasted sourdough slices. It’s also great cold, straight out of the fridge, when the flavours have had time to mingle. It’s spectacular either way.
BAKED FETA WITH MUSHROOMS, TOMATOES & PESTO
Ingredients
- 6 large tomatoes
- 2 punnets of mushrooms, about 300 grams
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto (homemade or store-bought)
- 100 grams feta
- 10 black olives, roughly torn
- 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Chilli flakes, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and chop each half into approx 6 pieces. Lay them out in your baking dish. You want a dish big enough to fit the tomatoes snugly.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss. Roast in the oven for about 45 mins or until they're browned around the edges and halved in size.
- In the meantime prep the mushrooms: keeping the stems on, slice through each mushroom lengthwise into thin strips. Add to a large wide pan over high heat.
- Cook until the mushrooms let out all their moisture and completely dry out - about 10 mins.
- Push them to one side, then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan to cook the garlic. When the garlic starts to lightly brown, toss the mushrooms and garlic all together. Season with salt. Set aside.
- Break the feta up into 4 pieces and tuck them between the tomatoes. Scatter the olives and cooked mushrooms around the dish. Pop it back into the oven for a further 15 mins.
- Dot the pesto around the dish and stir it all together when the feta is still hot and melty. Season with chilli flakes and oregano.
- Serve hot heaped over crusty sourdough. Also great at room temp or cold from the fridge.
Notes
- Roughly adapted from Jenni Häyrinen.
Leave a Reply