Kalamata Olive Pasta…Otherwise Known as Pasta Puttanesca
I always have the ingredients for this easy Italian Pasta dish on hand for those busy days when I just don’t want to cook, but I want to eat! This dinner takes only about 30 minutes, including the salad shown!
Kalamata Olive Pasta (Pasta Puttanesca)
(This recipe is adapted from one found on the Epicurious website) Serves 6
You will need:
- 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
- 5 cloves organic garlic, minced or forced through a garlic press
- 1 TBSP Wild Caught Anchovy Paste
- 1/2 tsp hot red-pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1/3 cup organic extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 28-oz can of Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup drained pitted Kalamata olives
- 2 TBSP drained organic capers
- salt/pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh organic basil
Begin:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil
Puree the tomatoes in a blender (I used my small food processor because my blender was broken! Boo! But it worked alright)
Mince or press the garlic
Coarsely chop the olives
When the water boils, add the pasta and cook until al dente
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat
Add the garlic, anchovy paste, and red pepper flakes, and stir occasionally until fragrant. This only takes about 2 minutes.
Add the tomato puree to the garlic oil
Stir and then add the Kalamata olives and capers, then bring to a gentle simmer and add salt and pepper to taste
Meanwhile, chop the basil, and check the pasta to see if it is done. When it is al dente, drain. You can toss the pasta into the sauce if you would like. Or serve the pasta and sauce separately.
Make the salad–this takes only about 5 minutes!
Easy Caprese Salad
This is one of my favs!
You Will Need:
- Mozzarella Fresca (Fresh Mozzarella), drained. I like the little balls–they are about 1/2″ rounds
- Organic cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
- Organic Basil, coarsely chopped
- Organic Balsamic Vinegar
- Organic extra-virgin olive oil
- Fresh-ground salt and pepper, to taste
Just toss everything together! I do about half the amount of Mozzarella Fresca to the amount of tomatoes (2 cups of tomatoes, 1 cup of Mozzarella Fresca), then add the basil, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper to taste
Now Serve!
Stir the basil into the pasta sauce, and pass shredded parmesan cheese, if you’d like. Everything is ready!
We like to have some Lassen’s Baked Rosemary Bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side.
Seriously! It’s dinner in about a half hour!
This is a perfect meal for a busy summer day when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen!
Happy pasta-ing!
Love,
Lassen’s