Baked Penne
This Baked Penne is gaining crazy popularity for a reason - it's SO GOOD! Feta cheese is baked with ingredients like cherry tomatoes, garlic, and Italian seasonings until it's gooey and delicious, then it's mixed with pasta of your choice and baby spinach. I don't know about you, but I'm already hungry!
Servings 8 servings
Calories 409kcal
Ingredients
- 3 containers cherry or grape tomatoes 10 ounces each
- 3 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup olive oil
- 8 ounces block of feta or cream cheese
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 box penne pasta
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Place the tomatoes, minced garlic, italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes in a baking dish. Pour about ¼ cup of olive oil on top and toss to combine.
- Place feta cheese or cream cheese in the middle of the baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until tomatoes are bursting and feta/cream cheese is golden on top.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve ½ cup pasta water before draining.
- Remove the feta and tomatoes from the oven. Then smash the tomatoes and feta with the back of a spoon.
- Add in the pasta and stir. Add in the reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce to your desired consistency. Add in the baby spinach and stir again. The spinach will wilt as you stir.
- Top with freshly shredded parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread.
Notes
- Replace the feta with a wheel of brie cheese! Just be warned, whatever cheese you use, is what the whole pasta will taste like. If you love brie, try it out, and be sure to leave the rind on!
- Penne noodles are my favorite, but any other kind of grippy noodles will also do the trick. Bowties are another classic!
- Make this pasta dinner spicier by doubling down on the crushed red pepper. Just be careful – a little crushed red pepper goes a pretty long way.
Nutrition
Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 408mg | Potassium: 200mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 867IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 167mg | Iron: 1mg