User's avatarGrace Bish

Baked Feta Dip With Spicy Tomatoes and Honey

NYT Cooking, double for main course quantity

Yield6-8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 (8- to 10-ounce) brick or slice of feta
  • 1½ cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped (drained and rinsed) pitted olives or capers (optional)
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon Urfa or Aleppo pepper, or crushed red-pepper flakes
  • Fine sea salt, as needed
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon honey
  • Torn mint or basil (or a combination), for garnish
  • Sliced baguette, pita bread or crackers, for serving

Steps

  1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place feta in a small gratin or baking dish, preferably not metal.
  2. In a medium bowl, toss together tomatoes, garlic, onion, olives or capers, if using, Urfa pepper and a very tiny pinch of salt. Toss well, then drizzle in enough olive oil to generously coat the vegetables.
  3. Spoon the vegetables around the feta. Spoon the honey over the top of the feta, using the back of the spoon to spread it out. Drizzle feta and vegetables lightly with olive oil. Bake until the tomatoes have broken down, the garlic is tender and the feta browned, 35 to 45 minutes, stirring the vegetables, but not the feta, halfway through cooking.
  4. Top the feta and vegetables with fresh herbs and then use a spoon to mix the vegetables into the feta (it will look curdled, top with more herbs and Urfa pepper if you like). Serve with baguette slices, pita bread or crackers while the cheese is still warm and runny.