Lightened Up Baked Feta Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. or 1 lb. uncooked pasta- I use fiber gourmet or barilla plus pasta-but any
• pasta will work or even cooked spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp dry white cooking wine
• 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, preferably different colors
• 8 oz. feta-chunk/block *see notes
• 2 cloves or 2 tsp garlic, minced
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 3 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   YIELD: 8
2. Place the block of feta cheese in the center of a 9×13-inch or 3-quart baking
   dish. Arrange cherry tomatoes around the cheese.
3. Drizzle the olive oil and white cooking wine over the tomatoes and feta
   cheese, ensuring the tomatoes have been tossed with a little bit of oil.
4. Sprinkle the top of the feta with minced garlic, fresh basil, red pepper flakes,
   salt and pepper.
5. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.
6. After it’s baked for 35 minutes, turn the broiler on high and broil for 2-4
   minutes or until the top of the feta has a golden crust to it and tomatoes
   begin to blister and pop.
7. Meanwhile, cook the pasta to al dente per the package directions. I
   recommend adding a bit of salt to the water for added flavor. I recommend
   reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water to add into the feta tomato
   mixture pasta to help thin out the sauce.
8. Drain and set aside.
9. Mash feta and tomatoes using the back of a fork.
10. Add the cooked pasta and/or 1 cup cooked chicken, shrimp, or Italian
    sausage crumbles, for additional points and if desired.
11. If sauce is too thick, feel free to add some reserved pasta water to thin sauce,
    if desired.
    Notes
    2 oz uncooked equals about 1 cup cooked or about 5 oz cooked.
    Block or chunk feta cheese works best and melts nicely. That’s because the
    block is less processed and will give a more melty consistency when baked. If
    you can’t find the block feta cheese- you can use crumbled feta. Regular,
    reduced fat, and fat free feta would work. President Cheese brand makes a fat
    free chunk feta cheese.

Nutrition Information: YIELD: 8 Amount Per Serving: CALORIES: 238 TOTAL FAT: 9g SATURATED FAT: 4g CHOLESTEROL: 15mg SODIUM: 484mg CARBOHYDRATES: 48g NET CARBOHYDRATES: 27g FIBER: 21g SUGAR: 3g PROTEIN: 14g

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