This upgraded version of the viral baked feta pasta is just what you need for a special, quick dinner! This version is made with gluten free fettuccine, has more tomatoes, and I've included some other tips and tricks to make this recipe even better than the original. Oh, and I've added shrimp! Oh yes! So good!!
Prep Time: 4 minutesmins
Cook Time: 31 minutesmins
Total Time: 35 minutesmins
Servings: 6servings
Ingredients
1/2cupghee or clarified butter*melted
2lb900g grape or cherry tomatoes
1tspfine sea salt
1/2tspfreshly ground black pepper
8oz225g block feta cheese
1lbfettuccinegluten free or traditional
2Tbspextra virgin olive oildivided
1lb450g large shrimp
4large cloves garlicminced or pressed
1/4tspred pepper flakes**
1cuploosely packed basil leaves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
Add ghee, tomatoes, salt and pepper to a large skillet or baking dish (I used a 15-inch cast iron skillet) and toss to coat.
Place feta in the middle, brush top and sides with the ghee, and sprinkle with more pepper.
Bake at 400ºF (205ºC) for 25 minutes on the middle rack.
Cook fettuccine according to package directions while the tomatoes and feta bake. When finished, drain well and toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil. This step is important so that your finished dish has plenty of sauce. Most baked feta pasta recipes add the pasta right in and it immediately soaks up most of the liquid. Tossing with olive oil prevents that.
Remove skillet from oven, set oven to broil on high, then nestle shrimp in with the tomatoes and brush tops with the melted ghee.
Place skillet back in the oven and broil on high (middle rack) for 6 minutes or until the shrimp are opaque and cooked through. Adjust cook time based on size of shrimp. I use large shrimp for this recipe and 6 minutes is just right.
Remove skillet from oven, stir garlic and red pepper flakes into the tomatoes (without breaking up the feta), then add in cooked fettuccine on top of everything and stir together to coat. I like to leave some chunks of feta for presentation and because it just tastes better that way!
Drizzle the whole dish with 1 Tbsp olive oil and garnish with basil leaves.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*It's important that it's clarified since that raises the smoke point. Regular butter will burn and get bitter. **This really doesn't make the dish spicy, it just brings out the other flavors. However, if you are very sensitive to spice, then reduce or omit.