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Since I am not on #tiktok, I hadn’t heard about the infamous #tomatofetapasta. Until my sister raved about it a few months ago. She is inquisitive and up to date about the ongoing #trends, and essentially everything under the sun. I, on the other hand, tend to be a little slower on the current trend front, which gives me a chance to learn from her aplenty!
The recipe reached me much, much later, and the #storyteller in me was fairly curious about the who, what, when, where, and how about this delicious #pasta.
Upon doing some digging, I found out that the pasta was created by the blogger Jenni of @Leimessa blog. After she posted the recipe a few years ago it went viral in Finland and the Finnish community around the world. It was then picked by an American blogger and chef @grilledcheesesocial, and the recipe hit the second wave of popularity amongst the blogging community. The third wave of popularity occurred after a tiktok-er @feelgoodfoodie
made the 50 second video of the pasta, to be tried by many people.
I was blown away by how a recipe written in Finnish reached to such a wide audience around the world. Social media is really something to be reckoned with.
So, when I was at my moms place, I decided to make the pasta as a spur of the moment thing. You know when you’re craving carbs and such something that feels like a hug in a bowl? That. It was quite the day and well, the pasta was the hug that my soul needed.
I substituted feta with cream cheese due to nonavailability of the product, and the pasta still turned out mouth watering. I can’t even imagine what it’ll taste like when I bake some with feta. We also couldn’t find fresh red chillies and had to make do with crushed chilli flakes. I forgot to add black pepper, so please add that also.
Also, our local grocery store was out of fresh basil, so I had to make do with dried one. I do feel, that fresh basil would have been far nicer than the dried one. But, Oh well!
What I really love about this certain recipe, is that no ingredient outshines the other. Olive oil gives a beautiful earthy base, garlic packing in a much needed punch to the tomatoes and well, we all know what the cheese does. DIVINE!
I almost forgot to add, I cheated a little and added a tablespoon of butter along with olive oil and don’t mind if I tell you how delicious that turned out to be.
So, while I was preparing the ingredients for the pasta, putting water to boil, collecting ingredients, bringing butter to room temp. I decided to preheat the oven. 10 mins go by, I have my glass dish ready to go in the oven. I start smelling smoke. Can’t figure out where its coming from I look hither and thither. To no use. I open the oven door and smack, smoke hits me right in the face. OIL SPILL!
We compose ourselves, and preheat the handy dandy notebook. No. toaster oven, and in goes the pasta dish a while later.
Ingredients
450g angel hair pasta
1 block feta or cream cheese
½ cup olive oil
2 tbsp salted butter
500g tomatoes
5-6 cloves of garlic
½ tbsp crushed red chillies
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
¼ tsp dried basil leaves
Method
Toss tomatoes, and garlic in olive oil , sprinkle in salt, chilli flakes and dried basil. If you have fresh basil hold off for now.
Coat an oven proof dish with oil and transfer the tomato mixture in, creating a gap in the middle for the cheese.
Drizzle more olive oil on the cheese, along with some chilli flakes and some basil.
In it goes in the oven for 15 minutes.
Sneak in some butter at this point and let it cook for another 10 minutes
While that is happening, boil the pasta to al dente consistency
Remember the fresh basil leaves I told you to hold on to, add them now and bake for another 5 minutes.
Mix the sauce, in goes the pasta, toss, toss, toss.
Plate out and enjoy!
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