Y'all, I Made the Baked Feta Pasta With Boursin Cheese Instead, and It's SO Much Better

The first time I made that feta pasta that went viral on TikTok, I knew it would be the last. Unless your idea of tastiness is a mouthful of salt with a hint of tomato, you'd probably agree that baked feta and pasta aren't the most compatible. While I'm never trying the original recipe again, I'm in love with the simplicity of the concept, and it's pretty clear most people are too. I've seen TikTokers swap the tomatoes with strawberries, or go traditional Italian with ricotta or mozzarella, and Lizzo even has a vegan version, but the one I knew I wanted to experiment with was the version that uses Boursin. Boursin is a garlic- and herb-seasoned cheese with a creamy texture that's a cross between goat cheese and cream cheese. It's normally spread on crackers, but this recipe proves it's great on pasta too.

Just like the original, you'll start by dumping two pints of tomatoes into your baking dish, along with olive oil and whatever spices you want. Since Boursin already has garlic, parsley, and chives, you technically won't have to go heavy on the seasoning. But with only salt and pepper, I felt like the OG recipe was too plain, so I ended up doing what has been tried by other TikTokers, adding onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes. I don't think the Boursin necessarily needed it, but it amps up the flavour big time.

Thank goodness I gave this recipe a second chance, because it's actually so tasty and it totally had me reaching for seconds. Keep scrolling if you want to see how to make this savory dish.

Baked Boursin Pasta

Adapted Recipe Inspired by TikTok

Notes

Many TikTokers add a scoop of pasta water to their sauce, but I found the tomato juices were sufficient.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 box rotini or any pasta
   1 wheel Boursin cheese
   2 pints (4 cups) grape or cherry tomatoes
   3 tablespoons olive oil
   2 cloves garlic, minced
   1/2 of a small onion, chopped
   1/4 teaspoon salt
   1/4 teaspoon pepper
   1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
   1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
2. Add tomatoes, onion, and garlic to an oven-safe baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes, then gently toss to coat.
4. Put the Boursin in the center of the dish surrounded by the tomatoes.
5. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have burst. At this point, the pasta should be ready and can be strained and set aside.
6. Remove from the oven, and mix to combine the cheese and tomatoes before adding the pasta and mixing again. Then enjoy!

Information

Category

Main Dishes, Pasta

Yield

3-4 servings

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

44 minutes, 59 seconds