People Are Divided Over This TikTok 'Honeycomb Pasta' Cake
There is a new food trend taking over TikTok, and it's split the internet in two. The divisive recipe was first posted by TikTok user @bananalovesyoutoo, who called the creation "honeycomb pasta." To make the dish, she places pieces of string cheese inside vertically arranged rigatoni pasta, covers the whole thing with sauce and meat, and finally tops it with more cheese before putting the pan into the oven. "Looks good, right?" @bananalovesyoutoo asked her followers as she pulled it out of the oven. While it certainly looks cheesy and satisfying, the end result has people on the internet divided.
Some people cheered the creative honeycomb creation, with many pointing out it was not much different from other popular cheesy pasta dishes, like baked ziti or lasagna. The video has been viewed over 11 million times, and the recipe has even launched several copycat versions, such as @everything_delish, who recommended substituting the store bought sauce for homemade vodka sauce, using fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheese instead of string cheese, and topping the dish with fresh basil.
Some criticized the honeycomb pasta creation as inauthentic and cursed
However, not everyone was on board with the new food trend. Others were turned off by the use of lower-end ingredients like string cheese and jar sauce, with one person joking, "Somewhere an Italian watched this and cried out in pain" (via PopSugar). Another social media user even reposted the recipe to Twitter, calling it "absolutely cursed" and saying "everyone calling this basically Lasagna proves that they have never actually had Lasagna alla Bolognese” (via Insider). However, fans of the dish came to its defense, calling the criticism "elitist and snobby."
There's no doubt, the dish is unlikely to be mistaken for take out from a fancy Italian restaurant. But it looks saucy and satisfying, and can be made with ingredients that are probably already in your house. So if you like cheesy pasta, and aren't a snob about the sauce, it might be worth trying the unique honeycomb pasta cake for yourself before you render your final judgement.