There is nothing like a fresh bowl of carbs to soothe the mid-week woes. If you’re a loyal follower of top models, you know Gigi Hadid can whip up a mean Spicy Vodka Pasta. When she took to Instagram to reveal the recipe last year, we immediately jumped on the bandwagon to recreate the creamy dish. Trust us, it is delicious. But now it appears there is a new kid on the viral recipe block. And no, it’s not Bella Hadid’s Chicken Katsu Ramen (although we’re 100 percent going to try that dish too).
Behold: the TikTok Feta Pasta. In case you’ve been living under a social media rock, this viral pasta has been making the rounds and maybe, just maybe, it’s got the edge on Gigi Hadid’s pasta.
Published by TikTok chef @feelgoodfoodie, this baked feta pasta recipe has been liked over one million times. According to reports, mass hysteria over the simple dish caused a widespread shortage of feta in Finland upon the recipe’s release by a food blogger to Instagram in 2019. Naturally, TikTok adopted the recipe as its own. It requires just a handful of ingredients that you may already have in your pantry and less than an hour of cooking.
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TikTok Feta Pasta
Ingredients
500 grams cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One block of feta cheese, drained
Roughly 250 grams of any pasta
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Toss the cherry tomatoes and olive oil with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and several grinds of black pepper in a baking dish.
Place the feta in the center of dish and season.
Bake until the tomatoes have burst and the feta has softened, about 30 minutes.
Increase the heat a little further and continue to cook until the tomatoes and feta are golden brown.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. As Gigi Hadid swears by, too, reserve 1/2 a cup of pasta water (thank us later).
When the tomatoes and feta come out of the oven, stir in the garlic. Toss in the pasta and half of the basil until evenly coated. Add some pasta water if the sauce becomes too thick. Top with the remaining basil.
Bon Appetit!
The result is a zesty, creamy, comfort pasta sans all the cream and butter from Gigi’s recipe. But if you want something with a little more bite, below is a refresher on how to create the model’s Spicy Vodka Pasta. And when you’re sick of pasta (as if?!), try Gigi Hadid’s salad.
@feelgoodfoodieBaked feta pasta with cherry tomatoes!! Recipe on blog • Inspired by @grilledcheesesocial 😘 ##tiktokpartner ##learontiktok ##fetapasta ##recipes♬ original sound – Feel Good Foodie
GIGI HADID’S SPICY VODKA PASTA
Makes 2
Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil
1 small clove of garlic, diced
¼ green onion
¼ cup tomato paste
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vodka
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
225 grams of shells pasta
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Basil, chopped, to serve
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, garlic ,and onion. Cook until soft. Add tomato paste and cook until it appears “darker [in color] / a bit caramelized” says Hadid.
Add in the heavy cream and vodka and cook through until evaporated.
Add in the red pepper flakes. [There is a special note from the chef here to add in more flakes if you like your pasta extra spicy].
Keep stirring until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove sauce from the heat.
Cook pasta separately. The chef uses shells but orecchiette would also work well. When the pasta is done, save ¼ cup of the pasta water before draining.
Add in the butter. Stir over medium heat til the butter has melted and the sauce is “sauccyyyy” says Hadid.
Add pasta – and the pasta water – to the sauce.
Add Parmesan cheese and stir.
Add more salt and pepper to taste. Top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and basil to serve.
