As we end the first month of 2021, we have seen some interesting new food trends that dominated TikTok. Since the current pandemic situation may not have improved, we will most likely be confined most of the time in our homes. This means the cooking adventures will indeed carry on. As for TikTok, a new viral dish is generating buzz, and it's called Baked Feta Pasta.
According to Today.com, this latest food trend started back in 2019 on Instagram. The creator is the Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen who called the dish Uunifetapasta, which translates to oven-baked feta pasta. Häyrinen revealed that she first posted the dish on her Instagram stories, which garnered tons of views and likes.
After noticing a positive reaction of viewers on Instagram, she followed it up by posting the viewers' responses to the dish in the following three days. These results in local newspapers and other influencers caught wind of her live post, and the next day the dish became the newest sensation in Finland.
Häyrinen also said that since the dish was a must-try, stores in Finland started running out of feta cheese because of its high demand. According to her website, Liemessa.fi, the original post about the dish garnered over three million views and was awarded as the phenomenon of the year in 2019 in Finland. To which Häyrinen said she is not surprised that it will continue to go viral elsewhere.
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Becoming A TikTok Trend
@maggiisOven baked Feta & Tomato-pasta recipe This is my favorite. #food #recipe #pasta #foryou #fyp #foryoupage ♬ Italian Tarantella - Italian Restaurant Music of Italy
Like what Häyrinen predicted, the Uunifetapasta eventually reached the TikTok universe and has become the newest viral dish. Fans found the dish something simple and, at the same time, one that they can tweak to their liking.
The baked feta pasta trend has been recreated by fans from various places and using additional ingredients. Häyrinen said she is happy seeing all the variations from TikTok fans of the dish. As for her original recipe, she revealed that it was created as a quick and easy meal at that time.
Baked Feta Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:
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1 pound or 450g of Italian durum wheat pasta
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1 block (7oz / 200g) of greek feta cheese
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1/2 cup of olive oil
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1/2 red chili pepper
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500g of cherry tomatoes
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4 garlic cloves (optional)
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black pepper and salt
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A handful of fresh basil leaves
Procedure
1. Pour some olive oil at the bottom of the baking dish and place the whole feta block on top. Chop red chili peppers and add it on top of the feta cheese. Pour additional olive oil on top, then place the cherry tomatoes on the sides and drizzle them with oil. Grind some pepper and season with a pinch of salt.
2. Bake it in 400 F or 200 C for about 15 minutes in the middle rack. Turn the heat to 440 F or 225 C and move the dish to the upper rack while using the grilling mode for another 10 minutes.
3. Cook the pasta al dente. Remove the stems of the cherry tomatoes if you opted to use them. Break the feta a bit, and then mix it with tomatoes. Mix the sauce with pasta and add basil leaves to complete the dish.
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