The Easy Pasta Dish On TikTok That Caused A Feta Shortage In Finland
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The quarantine cooking continues, and this time, the internet is in awe of a recipe that promises a beautiful pasta dinner with minimal effort.
The dish is apparently so delicious and fool-proof, it has been reported that Finland was running out of the magic ingredient and the glue that binds everything together, feta, when it first made news there in 2019.
The trend has since resurfaced phenomenally on TikTok, with the hashtags #FetaPasta, #bakedfetapasta, and #tomatofetapasta fetching nearly 350 million views collectively.
The original recipe for uunifetapasta (or oven-baked feta pasta) is believed to have been first shared by Finnish food blogger and artist Jenni Häyrinen, and the preparation is as simple as it can get.
Essentially, you’ll need a pasta of your choice, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper, olive oil, and, of course, feta cheese—and you’ll require an entire block of it. Some people have added basil and garlic to their versions too.
Place all the ingredients, except for the pasta, in a baking dish, and then plop the feta in the center. That’s all the effort you’ll need before sticking the dish in a 400-degree oven for 35 minutes.
During this time, the cheese will melt into a decadent, creamy, and salty pasta sauce, while the blistered tomatoes will release their juices and lend some flavor and tartness.
Which means that, when the ingredients are out of the oven, you’ll just need to stir everything with cooked pasta, and you’ve got dinner without a sweat. There’s no need to peel or slice vegetables nor hunch over a pot as you stir a sauce.
Häyrinen, the originator of the recipe, told Food 52 that the TikTok variations seem to leave out one of her main ingredients: chili. So if you’d like a little kick, some chili flakes would be perfect here.
The dish’s popularity is understandable. Not only does it hit the right notes with TikTok’s fascination over convenience and novelty, but it also gives people a stress-free yet scrumptious option for dinner during these strange times. You’ll certainly have those days when ordering in seems to be the only option, and for those days, this recipe will comfort your belly while offering you the satisfaction of a homemade meal that you’ve cooked up all by yourself.
Now—what happens if there’s a feta shortage at your local supermarket too? You can still make this dish; others have tried it with goat cheese and have even created vegan versions.
@cookingwithayeh Baked Feta Pasta is def worth all the hype!! Inspired by the lovely @feelgoodfoodie 💗 #fyp #foodtiktok #bakedfeta #pasta #foryou #foryoupage
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@arianafeygin spoiler alert: it’s worth the hype 😝🍅 @feelgoodfoodie #fetapasta #bakedfetapasta #cooking #food #recipe #foodie #tiktokfoodie #tiktokchef #yummy #fy
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@plantyou Baked Feta Pasta, but make it VEGAN. #vegan #pasta #feta #fetapasta #uunifeta
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[via The Travel, cover image via Shutterstock]
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