A little while back, I came across an interesting recipe—roasted feta! honey! fresh herbs!—but I couldn’t justify running the experiment on just my family. We needed guests, but they had to be forgiving ones, people who wouldn’t care if the recipe bombed.
So I invited my parents, a.k.a. the best easy eaters ever: they like nearly everything, eat copious quantities, and are vocal in their affirmations. And then I proceeded to make food that I knew my immediate family might not appreciate but that my parents would: pasta with grilled zucchinis and red onions and lots of lemon. (I forgot the fresh basil, but it was still good). Later we had ice cream cones on the porch (have you tried Edy’s mocha chip? it’s so good), but before the ice cream and before the pasta, was the roasted feta.
I set the plate of cheese, drizzled with even more honey and garnished with sprigs of fresh oregano, on the kitchen table. Also, a bowl of small roasted beets, a jar of olives, and plenty of pita chips to transport the food into our mouths.
In the heat of the oven, the cheese, normally so dry and crumbly, had turned soft, almost creamy. Everyone—even my feta-adverse husband (seriously, the man does not like the stuff)—loved this variation.
In minutes, it was completely gone.
Roasted Feta with Honey
Adapted from The New York Times.
1 block of fresh feta cheese
generous drizzle of olive oil
some sprigs of fresh oregano or thyme
black pepper
honey
Place the feta on a foil-lined pie pan. (I used parchment paper; not a good choice when broiling.) Drizzle olive oil over the top. Bake the feta at 400 degrees for about 8-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cheese. When finished, it should be puffed, and slightly soft and springy to the touch.
Remove the cheese from the oven, and turn on the oven’s broiler. Drizzle honey all over the top of the cheese—one to two tablespoons, probably. Sprinkle the top with oregano or thyme leaves. Broil the cheese for another couple minutes, watching closely, until the top turns golden brown.
Remove the cheese from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Drizzle with more honey (maybe a quarter cup?) so that it puddles around the cheese. Grind a bunch of black pepper over top, and place a few decorative sprigs of oregano around the edge.
Serve with pita chips, roasted red beets, olives, and more honey, if desired.
This same time, years previous: the quotidian (7.11.16), a tale, er, tail, splash, zucchini skillet with tomatoes and feta, vanilla buttercream frosting, peanut butter cup ice cream, garden with an attitude.
