Baked Tomato Feta Pasta

Preheat oven to 400°. Place 1½ lb. cherry or grape tomatoes and 8 garlic cloves, smashed, in a deep 13x9" baking dish. Pour ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil over and sprinkle with 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Place 8 oz. feta in the middle of the baking dish, nestling into tomatoes. Bake until tomatoes have burst and feta is softened, 35–40 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook 12 oz. medium pasta (such as campanelle, rigatoni, penne, rotini, farfalle, or cavatappi) in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving ½ cup pasta cooking liquid.

Remove baking dish from oven; add leaves from 1 bunch basil, reserving some for garnish, and 4 tsp. Calabrian chile paste or 2 drained Calabrian chiles, finely chopped, and stir to combine. Transfer pasta and ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking liquid to baking dish and toss, adding more pasta water if needed, until pasta is well coated. Divide pasta among shallow bowls and serve, topped with more fresh basil leaves.