Tasty Tuesday | Baked Feta w/Penne

I love cheese but I was always apprehensive about the baking of a block of feta cheese. I kept seeing recipes for it, so I decided to find a recipe to guide me. The only thing is, there were always tomatoes and I have to watch the amount of acid I eat so I searched for one without tomatoes. I found this one on Sugary Logic as my guide and I went for it!

When I search for recipes, I generally use them as a guideline. Since going to culinary school, I learned to use my basic knowledge to make things tailored to my preferences. Even as a kid I would read recipes like books and would understand how things worked together, so now that I have actual training I still do the same thing when looking at recipes. Being a picky eater has also contributed to that. So with this recipe, I did change things to my liking and that’s what I’ll share below. I have shared the link to the original recipe above. The one thing I would change is actually saving some pasta water as suggested in the recipe.

INGREDIENTS  

• 1 lb dried penne pasta
• 8 oz block of feta cheese
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 shallot diced
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 cups Tyson chicken breast strips
• black pepper to taste
• For Garnish: crumbled feta (did I say that I love cheese??)

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat the oven to 400° F. 
• Place the block of feta cheese in the center of an oven-safe dish. Sprinkle the minced garlic and diced shallot over the cheese. Drizzle the olive oil over everything.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• While the feta is baking, cook the pasta according to the package instructions until al dente.
• Off the heat, add the pasta to the dish with the feta mixture. Toss until everything is coated. Stir in chicken and season with black pepper. *Add salt, if desired, but keep in mind that feta is already salty. I didn’t think it was necessary.
• Serve immediately with crumbled feta.

Here are a few photos of how mine came out. 🙂