Happy Valentine's Day! I don't know about anyone else, but this will be a lowkey celebration. With restaurants barely open, we have to get creative. I wanted a no fuss recipe, that didn't require a trip to the grocery store. I happened to scroll through TikTok and Instagram and I kept seeing the "Baked Feta" challenged. I was HOOKED. I probably watched hundreds of videos (no exaggeration). I finally decided to try it for myself.
I love Italian food and I'm all about the cheese, so this was right up my alley. This is a simple, straightforward recipe that's perfect for all my kitchen-challenged savorers. To make this low-carb and keto-friendly, I ditched traditional pasta and swapped it for shirataki noodles. I used shirataki fettucine pasta for the video, but I'm thinking I'll try heart of palms noodles in the future. These noodles cut down on prep time significantly because you don't have to cook shirataki noodles. You only need to drain, wash, and dry them. It literally takes less than 5 minutes. LOVE that!
Note: Shirataki noodles are a low-calorie, low-carb food made from glucomannan, a type of fiber found in the Asian konjac plant. Glucomannan is a highly viscous fiber, which is a type of soluble fiber that can absorb water to form a gel. These noodles move through your digestive system very slowly, which helps you feel full and delays nutrient absorption into your bloodstream.
Heart of palm noodles are made from hearts of palm, which in their raw form look like un-fried, fat mozzarella sticks. They're harvested from the inner core and growing buds of certain palm trees. These 100% edible cores are firm (like linguini noodles) and very nutritious. When cut and cooked the right way, it's hard to tell you're not eating pasta.
I'm not being extra when I say this is amazing. I had my doubts, but wow...this recipe is worth the hype. I've made this 3- 4 times since making this video and I've did add a few things to set this recipe off. Let's just say it'll be in rotation for a while. Watch my YouTube video below. That was my first time making it. I have a few takeaways: (1) put the feta in first and season both sides before adding the tomatoes; (2) if you're using a longer noodle consider plating it and topping it with the sauce instead of mixing into the feta dish; (3) add cilantro instead of basil (if you're a cilantro lover like me).
Ingredients:
2 oz. cherry tomatoes
1 feta block
1/2 c. olive oil
2- 4 garlic cloves
1/2 lb shrimp
1 lemon for zest
crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
dried Italian seasoning (to taste)
sea salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
2- 3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
4 tbsp. tomato sauce (optional but strongly recommended; try Rao's tomato basil)
fresh cilantro (basil or parsley will do)
shirataki noodles
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a baking dish (I used an 8"x8") add the feta block (drained in the center). Add the dried Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, and a dash of black pepper. Flip the feta over and season the other side.
3. Add the tomatoes around it. Sprinkle the sea salt, black pepper, minced garlic over the feta and tomatoes. Add in the olive oil. Use your hands or a spoon to mix these ingredients with the tomatoes.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.
5. In a mixing bowl, add thawed shrimp, seasonings and lemon zest. Mix and marinate while baking the feta mixture.
6. Take the feta mixture out of oven to add the shrimp. Place back in oven for 10 minutes.
7. Drain, wash, and dry the shirataki noodles and plate.
8. Take the feta mixture out of the oven, add the parmesan, cilantro, and tomato sauce (add Rao's tomato basil sauce...it's so flavorful).
9. Lightly mash the feta dish with a fork and top over shirataki noodles.
