Roasted Garlic, Olives and Feta

This easy mini appetizer features sweet roasted garlic, salty olives and creamy feta baked in the oven until warm and served with pieces of crusty bread.

Why This Recipe Works

• You might think most baked cheese recipes are all gooey and melty as in a baked ziti or lasagna. But when feta is baked, the heat from the oven only softens the cheese and it becomes warm and luscious.
• The flavors in this mini appetizer are truly incredible! The cloves of garlic are roasted in the oven until they are soft and creamy. Then, we add in olives, feta, and dried rosemary and bake until the cheese has softened and the olives are warm. It's so tasty!
• This baked feta appetizer is very easy to make.
• Although I love eating this with bread, toss the roasted garlic, olives and warm feta with pasta and it becomes a delicious meal.
• This mini baked feta appetizer is the perfect size for one or two people.

Ingredients

See recipe box below for ingredient amounts.

Ingredient Notes

See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.

• Olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil in this recipe as well as in every other recipe on One Dish Kitchen that calls for olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is the least processed form of olive oil. It is an unrefined oil and the highest-quality olive oil you can buy. Because of the way extra virgin olive oil is made, it retains more true olive taste. It also contains more of the vitamins and minerals found in olives. It's my favorite type of olive oil to use but you may use a lighter olive oil instead.
• Garlic: I use about 6 cloves of garlic when I make this baked feta appetizer. It may sound like a lot of garlic but you'll love roasted garlic and probably wish you used more. In fact, you can use as many cloves as you'd like. Roasted garlic is heavenly. It becomes sweet when it's baked or roasted. The sweetness comes from the fact that it gets caramelized when it roasts in the oven. Roasted garlic has a much milder flavor that raw garlic and is so good for you.
• Olives: I use kalamata olives in this recipe. These olives are grown in Greece and have a distinctive almond shape, meaty texture, and dark purple color. The name is also spelled, Calamata. Look for pitted olives which have the seeds already removed.
• Feta cheese: Feta is a Greek white cheese made from sheep's milk or a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. Feta is white in color and has a crumbly texture. It is usually sold in blocks or in packages of crumbled feta.
• Spices: I use a small amount of dried rosemary in this Mediterranean appetizer.

How To Make This Recipe

1. Place the peeled garlic cloves in an oven safe baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, until the garlic has softened.
2. Remove the dish from the oven and add the olives, feta, and dried rosemary. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
3. Serve with a small loaf of french bread, homemade tortilla chips, or pita.

Expert Tips

• Choose pitted kalamata olives. These olives have had the pit or stone removed.
• Consider adding sun-dried tomatoes to bake along with the olives and cheese.
• Use either a quarter of a block of feta or crumbled feta.
• You can use cherry or grape tomatoes instead of olives if you'd prefer.
• Make sure you use a small oven safe dish for this single serving appetizer.

Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients

If you have any ingredients left over from this baked feta and garlic recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:

• Olive oil: Sweet Potato Fries, Baba Ganoush, Homemade Croutons
• Garlic: White Bean Soup, Beef Enchiladas, Hummus
• Kalamata olives: Mediterranean Chicken, Spinach and Orzo Salad, Greek Salad
• Feta cheese: Italian Pasta Salad, Avocado Salad, Mediterranean Pasta and Shrimp
• Dried rosemary: Roast Turkey Breast, Chicken Cacciatore, Smashed Potatoes

Frequently Asked Questions

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