This feta cheese pasta with shrimp and spinach is so easy and delicious. The creamy sauce tastes like it is from a restaurant but is so quick to make. Adapted from the world famous “TikTok Pasta” this recipe is a must-try.
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Toss together diced tomatoes, ¼ cup olive oil, ⅔ grated garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, ½ the herbs and spread it in the baking dish.
Make a well in the center of tomatoes and place the feta cheese block, burrata cheese halves and sprinkle the parmesan cheese. Drizzle remaining olive oil on the cheese and bake at 400ºF for 30 to 40 minutes until the tomatoes cook and release juices.
About 15 minutes after baking time, bring salted water to a rolling boil in a cooking pot. Cook the pasta until al dente stage following the directions on the package. Turn off the heat and add spinach. Drain the pasta with spinach and reserve some pasta water.
After complete baking time, remove the baking dish from oven and add remaining herbs, garlic and lemon zest (if using). Using a large and wide spoon, mash the cheeses until smooth and crush the tomatoes very well. Combine it all into a nice sauce.
Stir in the shrimp. Bake the sauce for an additional 5 to 6 minutes until shrimp turn opaque. Alternatively, toss shrimp with some olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and bake it for 9 to 12 minutes and then use it.
Stir in the drained pasta. Add “hot” pasta water to adjust the sauce consistency.
Notes
Salt: Use it judiciously, because the cheese already has some salt in it.
Cheese: Use feta cheese blocks made from sheep’s milk for best results. For grated parmesan cheese, I choose those with no cellulose, or grate a wedge of cheese.
Pasta: Use small size pasta. Other pasta options you could try are penne, elbow, rigatoni, farfalle, etc.
Shrimp: Use fresh raw shrimp, but frozen and thawed is fine too.
Consistency: Add more pasta water for a saucier consistency.
Make Ahead: Assemble all the ingredients in a baking dish and refrigerate up to a day before to have it ready to bake. It is ideal to cook pasta fresh. But, you can cook the pasta and shrimp a day ahead. Make sure to toss the cooked pasta with some olive oil to prevent it from sticking together.
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen for 2 months. Add pasta water as needed and reheat.
Nutrition Facts: Not including any added salt. The sodium value for shrimp is based on retail market shrimp that typically come in contact with sodium solutions while processing. It may vary if using fresh untreated raw shrimp.
For more tips on variations and serving suggestions check out the blog post above.