Cavatappi in Shopski Style Feta

Adapting the Shopski Style Baked Feta - a beloved dish from Bulgaria into a pasta. Other than the time involved in pasta cooking, there’s no additional active cook time, everything happens in the oven! You can totally use roasted peppers from jars or pre-pickled chiles but I insist on trying everything homemade at least once. Feel free to use any short pasta such as farfale, rigatoni or gigli and give this easy and indulgent pasta dish a go!

Ingredients (Serve 3-4)

6 sweet red peppers (sub 2 red bell peppers, slit lengthwise
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1 tsp crushed Black Pepper
30g Red Onion, thinly sliced
250g Cherry Tomatoes, Whole
1 Serrano Pepper pickled in vinegar and salt overnight, chopped (de-seed to reduce heat)
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 tsp Cumin Seeds, ground
1 tsp Chile flakes
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
230g or 1/2 lb block of Sirene or Bulgarian Feta (substitute with Greek Feta)
1 tsp Runny Honey
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
220g Cavatappi pasta, cooked based on package instructions

Garnish
1 tsp Baharat Spice Blend + 1/2 tsp Aleppo Pepper Flakes (regular red pepper flakes is fine)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Breadcrumbs

*Optional: fresh picked oregano leaves (substitute with Basil)

Directions
🥣 Pre-heat oven to 425F. In a large baking dish, combine red peppers, olive oil, salt and black pepper. Mix well. Bake for 15-17 mins, take it out and turn down the oven temp to 400F

🥣 Remove the peppers, when cool enough to handle roughly chop them and toss it back into the baking dish. Now add remaining ingredients except EVOO and honey into the dish and give it a good mix. Make space in the center and put the block of Feta. Drizzle EVOO and honey on top of the block

🥣 Bake for 20 mins and then crank up the temp to 425F and bake for another 5-7 mins. While this is baking, prepare the garnish - in a small pan, combine spices, oil and breadcrumbs, Fry on medium flame for 2-3 mins or until golden brown and aromatic. Keep it aside until ready to serve.

🥣 Once out of the oven, the feta should look caramelised on top and feel soft in the middle. While hot, vigorously mix the feta with everything else to make a thick creamy sauce. Then quickly transfer the cooked pasta into baking dish and mix until pasta is well coated

🥣 Sprinkle the spiced breadcrumb topping alongwith fresh oregano (if using) and serve straight in the baking dish