An oven-baked pasta dish with feta cheese, asparagus, and tomatoes. Paired with a wonderfully creamy pasta sauce – super easy and quickly prepared in the oven.
Do you consider yourself to be a superfan of the still trending baked feta pasta? I know I do! (Despite being around for a while, it has maintained solid traction.) 😉
I absolutely love this oven-baked creamy pasta dish with feta cheese! Aside from tasting incredibly delicious, this recipe is extremely convenient, as you’ll have it whipped up and served in no time at all.
Here, crunchy asparagus is combined with delicately melted feta cheese. The ideal recipe for asparagus season and ready in a flash! served in no time at all.
Ingredients
Only a few simple ingredients are needed to create this delightful baked feta asparagus pasta:
- Asparagus: Make sure you choose crisp and fresh asparagus. I recommend slightly thinner spears for our recipe since they will yield more pieces (per spear).
- Feta cheese: Use any readily available block of feta cheese, goat cheese, or something similar.
- Tomatoes: It’s highly advisable to stick with a small, firm variety, such as cherry tomatoes. They have a lower water content, thus ensuring your dish doesn’t get watered down while it’s being cooked.
- Pasta: Pick whichever pasta floats your boat. Fusilli, penne, or spaghetti work especially well.
- Garlic: If garlic breath generally doesn’t cause a dispute in your house, and you prefer a more pronounced garlic flavor, you may, of course, use more than the indicated one clove. 😉 Alternatively, feel free to omit altogether, if garlic isn’t a flavor you particularly fancy.
Instructions
The feta asparagus pasta is super simple and easy in terms of preparation. Find more detailed instructions and lots of helpful tips below:
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400℉ (bake).
Step 2
Thoroughly wash the asparagus, then pat dry with a paper towel. Chop off the bottom, woody part of each spear and slice them into bite-sized pieces (approx. 1 inch).
Wash and drain the tomatoes and cut them in half.
Place the asparagus and tomatoes in a small casserole dish (mine measures approx. 11×7 in). Drizzle with olive oil and mix well to ensure an even coating. Rather than dirtying up more than necessary, you can simply do this right in the baking dish. 😉
Step 3
Clear the center of your casserole dish by pushing the vegetables to the side. Now, place the block of feta cheese in the middle. In my case, the feta block was touching the bottom of the casserole dish, with the asparagus and tomatoes surrounding it.
Liberally season with salt and black pepper. See the picture below for reference:
Step 4
Transfer the casserole dish to the preheated oven and bake for a good 30 minutes.
Cooking time, of course, may vary based on the size of your baking dish, the size of your produce as well as the desired level of browning.
As a rough guide, the asparagus should be tender but may still have a slight bite to it. You can pierce a spear with a fork or take a quick bite to gauge how crisp or tender they are. The feta cheese block should be noticeably softer and fall apart easily when handled or touched. Here’s a peek at what my dish looked like when it came out of the oven:
Step 5
Multitasking at its finest. While the veggies are baking, let’s get started on the pasta. Simply cook as per the package instructions.
Remember to skim off about a ¼ cup of pasta water to prepare our deliciously creamy sauce in the next step.
Step 6
Remove the casserole dish from the oven and add the ¼ cup of pasta water.
Now we can create our creamy sauce by combining all the ingredients. To do so, grab two forks to break up the feta cheese, mash it a little if necessary, and thoroughly incorporate everything.
The final result should resemble a delectable, smooth feta cheese sauce with mouthwatering chunks of tomatoes and asparagus. Here’s what it’ll look like:
Last but not least, combine the sauce with the pasta, et voilà, time to eat and enjoy!
(If you are using a casserole dish sized large enough to hold all the pasta, toss them right in. Fewer dishes, less clean up. Otherwise, add the sauce to the pasta using a separate pot or bowl.)
It is, of course, possible to serve the sauce and pasta separately, although I highly recommend mixing the two right away.
Enjoy the recipe:
Asparagus and Feta Pasta
Ingredients
- ½ lb. green asparagus
- ¾ cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 7 oz block of feta cheese
- salt, black pepper
- 7 oz pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ (bake).
- Slice the asparagus, cut the tomatoes in half, and finely chop or mince the garlic clove. Toss everything into a small casserole dish, drizzle with olive oil, and mix well.
- Place the feta block in the center and season with salt and black pepper.
- Transfer the casserole dish to the preheated oven and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per package instructions.
- Skim off ¼ cup of pasta water and pour into the baking dish. Mix everything well to create a creamy, smooth sauce. Lastly, fold in the pasta and combine thoroughly.
Notes
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