Spelt Ribbon Pasta with Marinated Feta
This dish is best made with a creamy variety of feta, so that it melts into the warm pasta. Use Meredith Dairy marinated sheep and goat milk blend if you can find it.
I owe credit for this recipe to Melinda Dimitriades an Australian chef and cheese connoisseur who arrived at my sister’s tiny New York kitchen with a tub of the aforementioned feta and made a most memorable meal that we all swooned over. I have been making variations of it ever since.
Most types of pasta will work here, but I encourage you to try a wholegrain pasta. I like spelt or kamut, not only for their rich nutty flavor, but also for their superior health benefits and satisfying texture.
Pre-heat oven to 375°F (190°C).
Place cherry tomatoes in a baking dish, drizzle with half the olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper.
Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes or until tomatoes are collapsed and beginning to brown.
Warm a heavy skillet over high heat; add remaining olive oil and onions. Sauté for 5 minutes over high heat until beginning to brown, lower heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, add a pinch of salt and cook 5 minutes longer or until caramelized. Set aside.
Cook pasta according to directions on package.
Drain pasta, return to pot; add cherry tomatoes and caramelized onions. Crumble a third of the feta over pasta and gently toss to combine.
Divide onto plates and top each serving with a piece of feta and a drizzle of the olive oil marinade. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Amy Chaplin
Amy Chaplin is an Australian living in New York City by way of Amsterdam and London. She grew up in rural New South Wales in a family and community of gourmet vegetarians; cooking and eating meals from her family’s biodynamic garden sparked her passion for fresh ingredients and hand-made food. It can be said that Chaplin’s career as a chef began while making bread with her father and peeling apples for her mother’s crumble. Chaplin’s upbringing also helped inspire her philosophy, that how and what we eat directly affects the world in which we live, as well as our own well-being. To this day the food she cooks features local, organic and plant-based ingredients. After 5 years as executive chef of the world-renowned vegan restaurant Angelica Kitchen, Amy now consults, cooks and teaches privately, her clients include Natalie Portman and Anna Devera Smith, among others. Chaplin finds herself dispensing recipes and answering queries about the health benefits of ingredients on a daily basis. This whole foods chef is always happy to share her passion for the natural culinary arts and loves inspiring others to cook and eat well too.