Baked feta pasta [1], whomst? The foodies of TikTok have already found another cheesy, carb-tastic dish to obsess over [2] (and debate): honeycomb pasta. Notably devoid of any honey, the meal involves lining the base of a springform pan with cooked, vertically aligned rigatoni noodles, filling some of the noodle holes with mozzarella cheese (usually in stick form), and then covering the pasta with tomato sauce, an optional ground meat, and a boatload of shredded cheese before baking it in the oven. I know what you're thinking and yes, the outcome is admittedly pretty similar to lasagna or baked ziti. But hey, you can't deny that it looks way more aesthetically pleasing with those upright noodles all smushed together and oozing cheese.
To be fair, we can't give TikTok credit for originating honeycomb pasta — the cooking method has been A Thing™ for a while, mostly under other names like rigatoni pie [3] and rigatoni cake. However, it was recently thrust into the mainstream spotlight when a TikTok user by the name of Anna Rothfuss shared a video of her making the dish [4], and it wound up raking in more than 11 million views in just one week.
The viral clip wound up sparking quite the impassioned dispute on social media. Some are decidedly not on board, with one person commenting on Anna's video, "Somewhere an Italian watched this and cried out in pain." But others found it appealing and have been recreating the dish with their own elevated variations, such as subbing out the cheese sticks for globs of ricotta and chunks of fresh mozzarella, adding spinach instead of ground meat, or using homemade tomato sauce [6] instead of a store-bought jar. (I, for one, am down with the trend, despite the fact that my Italian grandparents are likely rolling their eyes from up in heaven. Sorry, Nana and Nano!)
If you're looking to take a break from your plain ol' spaghetti and meatballs, check out the videos ahead to see how people on TikTok and Instagram are whipping up honeycomb pasta at home. But be warned: many mouthwatering, hunger-inducing cheese pulls are involved.