We were sitting in the car line, waiting to pick up my “littles” from school when she asked.
“Can we make this Tomato Feta Pasta from TicTok for dinner tonight?”
Since I didn’t exactly have a dinner plan for that night, I said, “Why not!”
So we loaded the littles in the car and headed to WalMart for the ingredients we were missing for dinner.
Since JRobbie is gluten-sensative, the dinner had to become gluten-free. Luckily, this recipe needed only one modification – gluten free pasta in place of traditional pasta.
We love the Barilla brand of GF pasta. It has great flavor, and as long as you don’t overcook it, good texture, too. And WalMart has a great price on it, too. They tend to only carry Penne, Rotini, and Spaghetti in our store, so your shapes are a little limited in the GF Pasta realm.
When we got home, the girl and I got started on dinner. She was loyally following a TicTok recipe, watching the video as we went along. But seriously….this dish is not rocket science. Measuring is not really necessary, either, but I’ve included amounts for anyone who needs to know how much they should be adding!
Start by preheating your oven to 400° F. Grab yourself a glass pan (like this Pyrex pan) and throw your tomatoes inside. Drizzle them with some oil (I prefer Grapeseed oil for cooking over Olive Oil, which is best uncooked), and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Nestle the block of Feta Cheese in the middle and drizzle with a little more oil. Add your minced garlic on top of the Feta, and then bake in the oven for 30 minutes!
While you are waiting for those 30 minutes to pass, it’s time to get ready to cook your pasta. Grab a pot and fill it with some water. You’ll need enough to cover the dry pasta with a little extra water over the top. Be sure you salt your water (add about 2 teaspoons of salt to the water) or your pasta will NOT taste good!
When you’re cooking gluten-free pasta, it’s really important not to overcook your pasta. Since the main ingredient is usually rice, overcooking will lead to really gummy feeling pasta that is not pleasant to eat at all.
Knowing this, I recommend not actually cooking your pasta until your oven timer goes off. That way, while you are finishing up the prep on the cooked tomatoes and cheese, your pasta is cooking nicely!
Beep…beep…beep…your timer goes off, and it’s time to get the pan out of the oven! Set it on your stovetop or counter and let it rest a minute.
While it is resting, you’re going to add your pasta to the boiling water and set a time for 7-8 minutes. Remember, you do not want to overcook gluten-free pasta. Trust me.
Now, use a giant spoon and smush the feta and tomatoes together! Get them nice and mashed up together! This is going to be the liquid you use to moisten your cooked pasta!
I actually added a little heavy cream to my mixture just to give a little more creaminess and moisture to the dish. Delicious!
By now, your pasta should be finished cooking. Go ahead and drain the water from the pasta.
In a large bowl (mine didn’t fit in the pan we cooked the tomatoes in), mix together your pasta, tomato and feta mixture, along with the fresh chopped basil and whole baby spinach leaves!
Once everything is mixed well, you are ready to eat!
Looks tasty, doesn’t it?
It is…you’ll have to trust me for now. 😉
Gather your family together around the table, say your blessing, and eat up!
I’d love to know what your people think of this super simple, easy to cook meal that has taken TikTok by storm! My people really liked it!
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