(Viral) Feta Pasta – With Chicken Sausage

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(Viral) Feta Pasta – With Chicken Sausage: A deliciously easy adaptation of the internet-famous dish!

Ever since the viral sensation began, we too have continued loving to make feta pasta for dinner!  This (Viral) Feta Pasta – With Chicken Sausage is one of our favorite personal adaptations!

For those unfamiliar with the Feta Pasta origin story, the concept can be traced back to Finnish food blogger Tiiu Piret in 2018 (recipe here), followed by fellow Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen in 2019 (recipe here).  [Credit to them both!]  Jenni popularized the dish of #uunifetapasta (“oven baked feta pasta”) online leading to countless iterations from food bloggers and publications all over the world.  It is constantly being reshaped and re-shared, and it’s always delicious!

This version features spicy Italian chicken sausage, topped with fresh basil and dried red pepper flakes!  It’s a variation on a feta pasta first made for us by my mother-in-law years ago.  (If you don’t love spicy flavors, the ways to enjoy more mild substitutions can be found below!)

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RECIPE & INGREDIENT NOTES:

If you’ve never made feta pasta before, it’s the convenience of keeping everything together in one dish that makes it so nice and easy!  Whether you’re cooking for a group or for a meal-prep for yourself, you can think of it as a 3 step process:

• 1 – Raw sauce ingredients are added into a 9 x 13 dish
• 2 – Once baked, the seasoned tomatoes/feta/garlic are stirred together within the dish to make the sauce
• 3 – Prepared pasta is added into the feta sauce (followed by the sausage in this case!)

PASTA:

Tomatoes: I have tried this recipe with both Cherry and Grape tomatoes, and they both work great!  (The times that I have used tomatoes On The Vine turned out extra flavorful!)

Garlic: I used medium-sized cloves.

Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage: You will find my recommended variety linked within the ingredient list below, but feel free to experiment with others!  If you don’t love spicy flavor, you can certainly use a Mild Italian Chicken Sausage.  If you’re vegetarian and want to try out a plant-based variety of sausage with a similar flavor profile, I’m sure this would be delicious as well.  (Want to leave the protein source out completely?  It’s still incredibly delicious…We have done this many times!)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil:  Picking a high quality option makes all the difference for flavor!

Feta Cheese:  You’ll want to use a block of feta versus crumbles.  (If your store happens to carry 16 oz blocks instead of 8 oz, like ours, I’m personally always happy to have the extra half left over for salads and other lunches!)

Salt: I use sea salt, ground fine/medium.

Ground Pepper: I use a medium/coarse grind.

Rigatoni:  Any similarly shaped pasta, such as penne, could work too if you prefer!

TOPPINGS:

Fresh Basil:  Fresh basil is definitely ideal for flavor, but dried basil would also be tasty in a pinch.

Red Pepper Flakes:  Start minimally based on your taste and spice preferences!  You can always add more.

Sea Salt:  Most people will not find it needs much added salt if any, but have it available for serving just in case!

Kitchen Equipment:

• Knife & Cutting Board

• 1 Large Pan

• A 9 x 13 Glass Baking Dish

• 1 Large Pot

• A Colander

Servings: Approx. 6

Ingredients:

PASTA

• 2 Pints Cherry Or Grape Tomatoes
• 3 Cloves Garlic, sliced in half
• 12 oz. Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage
• 1/4 Cup + 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 8 oz Block Feta Cheese
• 1 Tsp Salt (I use sea salt, ground fine/medium)
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Pepper (medium/coarse)
• 16 oz Rigatoni (or a similarly shaped pasta)

TOPPINGS

• Fresh Basil, chopped, to taste
• Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
• Sea Salt, optional, to taste

Directions:

PREP

Wash and dry the tomatoes, and halve the garlic

Cook the sausages in a large pan according to package instructions

Slice the cooked sausages into half-inch rounds, then halve those into half-circles

Set everything aside

COOK

Preheat the oven to 400º

In a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, place the whole tomatoes and the garlic halves inside, then stir them together with 1/4 cup of the olive oil

Carve an empty space in the center of the tomato/garlic/oil mixture, and place the feta block into the bottom of the dish

Pour the other 1/4 cup of olive oil over top of the feta

Sprinkle the feta and the tomatoes evenly with the salt and pepper

Bake the seasoned feta and tomatoes until the tomatoes are blistered/bursting (The dish will contain a good amount of liquid by then) – 35-40 minutes

While the tomatoes and cheese are in the oven, prepare the pasta in a large pot according to package instructions

Drain the pasta, and set it aside

COMBINE

Using a large spoon, gently crush the tomatoes and slowly blend them together with the softened feta in the dish until thoroughly combined into a thick sauce (It should be smooth enough to cover the pasta, but it is naturally chunky with the large pieces of tomato skins.)

Add the pasta into the dish with the tomato/feta sauce, and stir until evenly covered

Evenly mix in the sausage slices

TOP

Top each serving with fresh basil and dried red pepper flakes to taste (along with sea salt to taste if needed)

Enjoy!

[Leftovers can be stored airtight in the refrigerator.]