This simple pasta recipe has taken the internet by storm.
The viral recipe dates back to 2019 when Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen created the cheesy "uunifetapasta" dish. TikTok's hottest trend is so easy that you could practically do it with your eyes closed.
First, dump your tomatoes in a baking dish, and add a block of feta. Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then, cover and roast until the feta is melty and the tomatoes have burst. Remove it from the oven, add garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes. Mix with cooked pasta, and voila—a delicious, gooey, saucy pasta dish, right in time for tomato season.
@grilledcheesesocial Baked feta pasta viral recipe! Inspired by #uunifeta via @liemessa & @tiiupiret #learnontiktok #foodtiktok #foodie
♬ She Share Story (for Vlog) - 山口夕依
Google searches for "uunifetapasta" have skyrocketed over the past few weeks.
"Right away, it started to go viral first on Instagram stories," Häyrinen wrote in an email to Food52. "The next weekend I had a 3-day #uunifetapasta live on my Instagram stories, and reposted my followers’ creations. Newspapers picked up on it, and it was not long before everybody in Finland was cooking it."
Now, Finnish grocery stores are selling out of feta, and TikTok has run wild with the recipe, offering up a number of tasty variations, such as goat cheese rather than feta.
"It's very simple to make but also has a visually intriguing process, plus it features ingredients we're familiar with—pasta, tomatoes and cheese are not exactly a groundbreaking combination—but with the twist of using sharp, tangy feta as opposed to, say, Parmesan," said People magazine reporter Shay Spencer.