Photography by Moshe Wulliger

Tomato-Olive Baked‑ Feta‑Cheese

Recipe By Esther Black

Last Shavuos, I presented a recipe for good for-you cheese tarts called Better Blender Cheese Tarts. You can find it on Kosher.com and on my website, fullnfree.com. This year, I’m sharing one of Esther’s dairy treasures: a savory tomato-olive baked feta cheese, with a sophisticated Mediterranean flavor. Although it’s a popular cow’s milk product too, to get the benefits of that wholesome feta, go for the sheep or goat’s milk version.

Serves 6

• 8 oz (¼ kg) block feta cheese
• 1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved, or to taste
• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, or to taste
• ½ tsp oregano
• 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
• fresh coarsely ground black
• pepper, to taste

Optional Add-Ins

• 1/8th  cup thinly sliced red onions
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red, orange, or yellow bell pepper (or a combination)
• 1½ Tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 Tbsp chopped basil
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the block of feta cheese into a baking dish. In a large bowl, toss together all the remaining ingredients and add-ins that you will be using. Pour the mixture on top of the feta and allow it to spill into the baking dish. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are roasted and the feta has softened.

(Originally featured in FamilyTable 643)