I have a confession.

I use tiktok.

I know, I know. I thought it was just silly trend videos for 13 year olds, too, but it turns out there are adults on tiktok as well. And some of those adults share food videos. Annnd some of those food videos go “viral.” That’s where the inspiration for this recipe came from: a viral tiktok pasta video.

I don’t know who the first person was to share it, but a video of a feta-and-cherry-tomato pasta spread like wildfire, and I wanted to create my own version of it. So I did. It was honestly an incredibly easy, super yummy pasta, and I decided to write my version down here to share with y’all.

So thank you, random tiktok stranger who started this craze, wherever you are. This pasta is a keeper.

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. You layer in your cheese, tomatoes, and peppers like so, and toss it in the oven. You boil the pasta while it bakes.

Then, when the tomatoes are blistered, you toss those puppies into a blender, put the pasta in the original pan you baked the sauce in, and pour the finished sauce over the top.

Boom. Carby goodness.

I enjoy this as-is, but my husband pointed out that it would be good with shrimp (or shramps, as we like to call them). I agree, and I plan to try it with the sea bugs in the future.

HERE’S THE RECIPE

Roasted Cherry Tomato and Sweet Pepper Pasta

Ingredients: 

1 lb bow tie pasta
5 oz goat cheese (feta will work as well, but I love the piquant taste the goat cheese gives this sauce)
Enough cherry tomatoes to line a 9×9 pan (approx. 1 package if using store-bought)
About 10 mini sweet peppers, halved and seeded
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled
Olive oil
Italian Seasoning
Salt & pepper (preferably fresh cracked)
Grated Parmesan, optional

Instructions: 

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Place your goat cheese in the center of a 9×9 baking dish. Surround it with cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves, and halved sweet peppers. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper, to taste (but don’t be stingy!).

Bake about 30 minutes or until the peppers and tomatoes have blistered.

While the sauce ingredients are baking, cook your pasta until it is al dente. Drain and drizzle with olive oil to keep from sticking if it is done before your sauce. (My current stove takes a while to heat water up, so my noodles finished after my sauce.)

Pour the cooked sauce ingredients into a blender and pulse until it is the consistency you desire. I like a smooth sauce, you could also leave it a bit chunky.

Pour the cooked noodles into the 9×9 pan and top with the pureed sauce. Mix to coat the pasta with the sauce, and serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Cheers