Credit: Robin Shreeves
We love TikTok posts that make putting a hot dinner together a breeze—especially with a clever twist. Take, for instance, the baked feta pasta, which involves baking a block of feta cheese with tomatoes and olive oil, then mixing it with cooked pasta. It was so genius that it’s no surprise home cooks embraced it and put their own spins on the idea.
Mixing cooked pasta with ready-made dips—often from Trader Joe’s—came next, an even easier way to make pasta. Then things came full circle with a different store-bought baked product and tomatoes mixed with cooked pasta.
Gen Cohen posted a video on her fitness Instagram account about her “Way Better Than Feta” Pasta, which she makes with frozen Trader Joe’s Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Dip, grape tomatoes, and cooked pasta. I gave it a try.
How To Make “Way Better Than Feta” Pasta
I’ve had Trader Joe’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip many times. It’s a decent, quick substitute when you don’t have time or the ingredients to make hot spinach-and-artichoke dip. It comes in a frozen block, like a thick hockey puck, and that block usually goes right into the microwave (in a bowl, of course). In about five minutes, you’re ready to dip tortilla chips, baguette, or carrot sticks into the hot dip.
Credit: Robin Shreeves
While you don’t use the microwave for “Way Better Than Feta” Pasta, it’s not much more complicated than that. Here’s how to make it:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place a block of Trader Joe’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip in an 8×8-inch oven-safe baking dish.
Arrange grape tomatoes around dip.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. (Cohen broils it after baking, but mine came out browned on top without broiling, so I skipped that step.)
After the dip has been in the oven for 25 minutes, bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. (I used 5 ounces of gemelli pasta because I had an open box, but use what you want.) Cook pasta according to the package directions; drain pasta, saving some of the cooking water.
Stir baked dip and tomatoes together with a spoon; stir in pasta until well combined.
Credit: Robin Shreeves
Recipe Tips
If you’d prefer to thin the sauce a bit, add pasta water a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
It’s easy to double all the ingredients without changing the directions, but make sure you use a larger baking dish.
You can also add protein—cooked chicken or cubed ham would be delicious—or eat the pasta as-is.
I ate the pasta with just the three ingredients, and it was so good—creamy and savory. The tomatoes added a welcome burst of sweetness and acidity to the mix. The only thing I’d change next time is to add more tomatoes so there’s one in every bite.
Credit: Robin Shreeves
The next day, I reheated the leftovers in the microwave. The dish wasn’t as good as fresh from the oven; the pasta had soaked up much of the sauce. I added a bit of milk to make it creamy again, but it only went so far. The dish wasn’t horrible when reheated, but the “oh my gosh, this is so good” vibe I got with every bite when it was freshly baked had faded. I will absolutely cook this again, though.
Was this better than the baked feta pasta? That’s up to you. I like them both and can’t say one is better. Of course, that’s not a problem because who doesn’t need more simple 3-ingredient recipes in their arsenal?
Read the original article on Allrecipes
Dining and Cooking