The casual and carefree nature of an appetizer is what we crave when preparing the main course at the end of another busy weeknight. If only dinner entailed breaking out a chic chopping block every night and assembling a charcuterie board, fruit plate or hummus trio drizzled olive oil. Because unless you want to spend your evenings picking at cheese and grapes — which doesn't sound too bad, honestly— the easy dinner of your dreams may seem out of reach.
Or so we thought until Martha Stewart's baked feta-marinade dip resurfaced this week on Instagram — and thank goddess she pulled this 2018 recipe from her archives! Not only is it a fantastic alternative to the recent viral feta pasta craze — here, the addition of piquillo peppers offers a sweet twist — it's the ultimate example of the perfect no-fuss dinner we've so desperately been craving.
If you want to cut corners, you can simply dress up a jar of marinara and serve it with store-bought crostini. Whereas, if you want to channel your Martha, you can go the extra mile and whip up a homemade marinara with only five ingredients.
Assembling this appetizer is a breeze. First, blend the sauce with the peppers. Then, pour the mixture into a heatproof dish. Finally, top it with feta, and bake until everything is nice and bubbly. Serve your finished dip with a batch of this crisp (but not too crisp!) crostini.
To transform your delicious creation from appetizer into a simple weeknight dinner, all you need to do is add one step to the original three-step recipe. And it couldn't be any less complicated: Toss your favorite type of pasta into the dish.
Too good to be true? You won't know until you try it for yourself. But once you do, this baked feta-marinade is guaranteed to be a staple in your home. Full recipe here.
For more of our favorite recipes from Martha, check out:
- Martha Stewart's 30-minute chicken puttanesca is the easy comfort food we need right now
- Martha Stewart's Mexican hot chocolate cookies are the right mix of spicy and sweet
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