Recipe
Oven-baked pasta with feta and tomato sauce
The tomatoes and a whole block of feta go into the baking dish while the pasta cooks alongside. At the end, the two are combined with a little pasta water to make a sauce.
What it’s all about
This dish hinges on one simple move: bake tomatoes and feta until the tomatoes burst and the feta is soft. Then mash both with a fork, loosen with pasta water, and toss with the pasta. The oven does the work; the cooking alongside is brief.
What matters is a whole block of feta, not crumbles: otherwise it dries out before the tomatoes are ready. Use a baking dish with high sides and you'll have less to clean up later.
Before you start cooking
Leave the garlic cloves unpeeled in the dish; that way they won't burn and can be easily squeezed out of their skins after baking. The chili flakes are optional; the oregano is not – it holds the sauce together.
Set aside a cup of pasta water before you drain. Without that starch, the sauce stays dull and won't cling to the noodles.
Leftovers and variations
The sauce keeps for two days in the fridge and tastes even rounder on the second day. The pasta itself doesn't reheat well; if you have leftovers, toss them cold with arugula and a spoonful of oil to make a pasta salad.
In the sample weekly plan, the pasta follows the feta and pepper boats – both dishes share feta and tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 250 g rigatoni
- 400 g cherry tomatoes
- 200 g feta
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 pinch chili flakes
- 1 handful arugula
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- Salt
- Pepper
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C conventional (top/bottom heat). Put the tomatoes, the whole feta, the unpeeled garlic cloves, oregano, chili flakes and the olive oil into a baking dish.
- Bake everything for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes have burst and the feta is soft.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente. Before draining, reserve a cup of pasta water.
- Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins. Mash the feta and tomatoes with a fork and press in the garlic. Stir in a little pasta water until the sauce is creamy, then season with salt and pepper.
- Mix the pasta with the sauce, fold in the arugula, and toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden brown, then sprinkle them over the top.
Updated on 19.10.2026