Baked feta
I’m not going to bang on about this but I just want to encourage you to try baking feta, if you haven’t already. You’ll get some lovely chewy burnished edge bits and the warm centre stays firm, yet acquires an endearing wobble. I’d suggest eating it with some good flatbread and perhaps some olives. And maybe tabbouleh. And perhaps baba ganoush.
Baked feta
Get yourself a block of feta and put it in a small roasting tin. Add some robust herbs of your choice (I used thyme) and drizzle with olive oil. Add some pepper. Stick it in the oven at about 200C for 15 minutes. It should be golden at the edges and wobbly in the middle.
Category: Cheese | Tags: bab ganoush, baked cheese recipe, baked feta, baked feta recipe, feta, mezze, rosemary, tabbouleh 29 comments »
February 9th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I am completely drooling (and also wondering why I have never tried this. Sounds perfect for a simple appetizer!)
February 9th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Seriously swooning now… Simple and delicious – my kind of snack!
February 9th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Excellent meat avoidance. Nice idea. I’ll try it with some fake Scandy Feta.
February 9th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
I couldn’t stop staring at your photos on Flickr. That looks just spectacular.
February 9th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
This is so genius! The most simple cooking ideas are truly the best. I think I’d like a slab of this on a fresh bread roll with slow roasted tomato.
February 10th, 2011 at 1:23 am
We love a good baked feta or baked ricotta. You’re right — the mix of still creamy center + the crunchy edge bits is wonderful. Great with toasted pita and some fresh tomato.
Cheers,
*Heather*
February 10th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Oh dear, not a good idea to look at this first thing – now I’m hungry for baked cheese and it’s not even half past 10! Nightmare. Looks absolutely delish though – will have to give it a try!
February 10th, 2011 at 10:10 am
At last, a use for feta other than bunging it in a salad. Splendid.
February 10th, 2011 at 10:12 am
What a droolsome photo…cheese + heat= yes pleases!!! I often stick mine under a grill then smear over toast, extra nice with a few fat pickled chillies on the side.
February 10th, 2011 at 10:12 am
THIS. LOOKS. SO. GOOD………….*dribble*
February 10th, 2011 at 10:29 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by FoodStories, Tracey. Tracey said: @stephie682 make this & bring me some! RT@kalynskitchen This post is absolutely making me drool: http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/02/baked-feta [...]
February 10th, 2011 at 11:54 am
This looks AMAZING. Echoing the other comments, why have I never thought of baking feta before? This may knock the Camembert off the hot cheese pedestal for me…
February 10th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
When I was little my mother was making crispy feta & egg breads, it is not an outsanding recipy or a culinary climax, rather a very simple & fast comfort food which reminds me the tranquillity of my childhood in sunny but cold winter days. You need:
1 egg
100/150gr of feta cheese
parsley
bread of your choice
Preheat your oven to 180 C
Put your feta cheese in a small bowl and crush it with a fork, until you get a pellety paste like consistency, add the egg and mix them well, it shouldn’t be too runny but more paste like, you can adjust the feta amount if necessary. Chop some parsley and add it to the mixture along with some ground pepper, dont add salt, feta cheese is very salty.
Put your bread slices on the upper rack of your oven, toast only one side, when golden and crisp, take the bread out of the oven, flip them and spread your mixture on the non-toasted side, put them back in the oven, you can take them out when the color starts to change and there are small brown spots on the cheese, think of it like a pizza, that should help you to understand if they are done or not.
Ps: Place some tinfoil on the lower rack of your oven as the excess mixture might drip.
February 10th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Baked feta is great! I normally throw some sliced tomatoes and chopped chillis on the top, but you should also try it drizzled with honey and sesame seeds.
February 10th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I’m in!! Baked feta! What a fab idea!
February 10th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
My god that looks amazing – may have to try this weekend with some of the recipes from Ottolenghi’s Plenty.
February 10th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Yey – I was just thinking about what to do with my leftover feta from cooking lots of Plenty this week – now I know! I really like Ino’s suggestion of honey and sesame with it, too.
February 10th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
What a great idea! I love feta any which way. I also like it in croquettes and in a dip with mint.
February 10th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
auggh – I can take or leave Feta in its usual state, but baked it looks transformed to something entirely more enticing x
February 10th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
So simple! but looks so delicious. Had never occurred to me to bake feta. I shall get right onto it.
February 10th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Love this-how to do it on the barbie?
Usually I interleave slices of feta with slices of squash, pepper, dot with butter and bake, the feta goes marshmallowy-delish!
February 10th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Lush lush lush. Works quite well if you marinade the feta first too, like for a day in olive oil with garlic (natch) and the same herbs you’ve used. Also ricotta – but the flavour is obvs a bit weedy. Another cracker x
February 11th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Utterly droolsome Helen! Love feta but baked is even better. I tend to top it with chilli flakes & coarsely ground cumin. Sometimes even topped on naan is gorgeous! Fab photos as always x
February 11th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
How simple and delicious. Add a spicy red wine a crusty baguette and the grey over London melts with the cheese.
February 12th, 2011 at 1:30 am
am huge fan of baked feta. loads of crusty bread. add wine to the mix. bliss. love the photo- makes me want to grab it from the screen. x shayma
February 14th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
It’s the description of its ‘endearing wobble’ that got me. Gracious I love the way you write.
February 14th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Crispy round the outside and wobbly in the middle! Oh man. Oh yes. That sounds positively sexy. I love frying/bbqing/grilling halloumi, but had never thought of baking feta. And good feta is one of my favourite cheeses to play with. And with baba ganoush… *drifts off into food filled reverie*
February 17th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
God how I loved baked feta it is pretty fantastic deep fried as well! Such a versatile cheese that Feta!
February 24th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
I love baked feta with dried italian herbs on it – that with crusty bread and a nice greek salad is heaven on earth.