Baked Lemon Feta Spaghetti

Baked Lemon Feta Spaghetti

This one is properly special. We came up with this recipe when we were messing around with the viral baked feta trend and thought, what if we went full lemon with it? The result is this incredible, tangy, creamy baked spaghetti that we genuinely can't stop making. The plant-based feta goes all soft and spreadable in the oven, the lemons caramelise and get jammy, and the roasted garlic just melts into everything. Trust us on this one, it tastes way more impressive than the effort involved.

Cook: 40 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Large roasting dish with lid (or tin foil)
  • Large pot for pasta
  • Tongs
  • Microplane or fine grater (for zesting lemons)

Ingredients

  • 3 lemons
  • 4 banana shallots
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • 200g plant-based feta
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 50ml pasta water
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 500g spaghetti
  • 100g spinach
  • 10g mint leaves
  • nutritional yeast
  • Salt and pepper

Method

1

Prepare the ingredients and cook

  • Zest and halve the lemons
  • Cut off the sprouting end of the garlic bulb
  • Peel, trim and finely slice the shallots
  • Add the block of plant based feta to the middle of the dish, place the lemons - cut side down - around the feta
  • Place the garlic bulb in between 2 of the lemons
  • Sprinkle over the shallots and nutritional yeast, drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle over a little salt and pepper
  • Put the lid on (or cover with tin foil) and place the tin in the oven and bake for 20 minutes
  • Remove the tin foil and roast for a further 10 minutes
2

Prepare the pasta

  • Fill a large pot with water, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil over medium heat
  • When the sauce has a couple of minutes left in the oven, cook the pasta according to packet instructions (approx 9-11 minutes)
3

Finish the sauce

  • Pick the mint leaves
  • Take the pan out of the oven and uncover
  • Use tongs to remove the garlic bulb from the dish and set to one side
  • Use tongs to squeeze the lemon juice into the dish and dispose of the skins
  • Stir the contents of the dish together so it’s well mixed
  • Use the tongs to squeeze the roasted garlic onto a chopping board and use the side of a knife to squeeze it into a puree
  • Add the garlic to the dish and stir through
  • Add approx 50ml pasta water to the dish and stir through (add more pasta water for a more saucy sauce)
  • Taste and season to perfection with salt and pepper
  • Use the tongs to transfer the spaghetti to the dish
  • Add the spinach to the dish and fold everything together to coat
4

Time to serve

  • Twist the pasta into serving bowls, garnish with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, a few mint leaves, a little drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately

Tips & Variations

  • Don't skip the zest: We always zest the lemons before halving them and stir that zest through the finished pasta. It gives you a fresh citrus punch that cuts through the richness of the feta beautifully.
  • Squeeze as you serve: Once the lemons come out of the oven, give them a gentle squeeze over the pasta before you toss everything together. That roasted lemon juice is liquid gold, honestly.
  • Make it your own: This works brilliantly with a handful of spinach or some sun-dried tomatoes stirred through at the end. Ian's been adding chilli flakes lately and we're big fans.

Why This Works

The trick here is baking the lemons cut-side down so they almost confit in the olive oil and release all that sweet, jammy citrus flavour without any bitterness. The nutritional yeast adds a subtle savoury depth that makes the whole dish taste really rich and complex. It's the kind of thing where you lick the spoon and wonder what on earth just happened.